Un-American Trash Talking

Distorting the ideals that define us as a people has become a national pastime for some of our public figures. In addition to obvious face-saving lies, unsubstantiated 'facts' are served up by right-wing politicians and surly Fox News media types. Providing a platform for far-right rants and lending media space to comments like those of Oklahoma's Republican Senator Inhofe, who called the president "un-American," test our patience and the limits of our commitment to "freedom of speech."

In a country where the press, or "fourth estate," holds special significance as protector of our right to be informed about what happens in government and on our streets, mainstream media is often derelict in the performance of its duty and finding well-reasoned dialogues that clarify the central points of an issue can be an arduous task. By the time someone, like Jon Stewart, points out that a Fox News anchor has misspoken about President Obama's speech in Egypt - - saying he had neglected to mention "democracy" when in fact he used the word four times - - viewers have probably spread the false information as originally aired.

And after weeks of us suffering through the studied waffling of former Vice President Cheney, former President Bush came up for air to announce that our economic nose-dive was the result of, ta-dah, those villains - - Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. It was ever so simple after all, and had nothing whatsoever to do with relaxed oversight and unregulated investment practices. If only he'd spoken up sooner. He said he'd tried to correct some of Fannie and Freddie's lapses, but people just wouldn't listen. What a leader.

Interestingly enough, however, a recent Newsweek article described a number of smaller banks throughout the country that have prospered even in a down economy. The explanation for this seemed to be that, as was true in 'the old days', these servers wrote mortgages for people they knew, held them and, in some cases, rescued borrowers from the high-interest, pay-day loans offered by unscrupulous lenders. And even though they did on occasion provide sub-prime mortgages, they had very few defaults.

What they didn't do was pay middle-men brokers commissions to find customers, nor did they allow employees to sucker borrowers into signing up for low-interest loans that would balloon to unmanageable levels in the future. Any employee who engaged in such deceptive practices would be fired. Neither did they repackage low-value mortgages into securitized derivatives that disappeared into an unregulated market. One more thing - - salaries were generous but not at the absolute top of the pay scale. One senior executive received a salary of about $900,000 compared to the over-two-million-dollar salaries more typical of presidents in larger institutions. These smaller banks made reasonable profits while managing, at the same time, to serve their customers and communities in a responsible, business-like manner - - something of a novelty these days. The rewards though more modest held steady in an otherwise erratic marketplace.

Two popular Republican talking points are that government is too big and that people make the best decisions about how to spend their money. At a time when many average Americans need outside assistance to stay afloat, talk of smaller government is a sign that some politicians are seriously out of touch with the realities of the day. Some say that California's troubles, for instance, are a result of high taxes and overspending, but when services are cut and facilities closed, voters are quick to say "not so fast."

The fact is that in the case of California its electorate seems to be proposition-happy. Not pleased about school taxes, a ballot initiative can lower them. Property taxes too high - - vote for proposition 13. And pass Proposition 8 to take gay marriage out of the legislature and the courts, and keep gay couples from making a personal decision to marry. Is it truly about over-spending or about a population so averse to taxes and so doctrinaire that it would let its educational system slide into disrepair along with its roads yet insist on dealing with a social issue that should be none of its business?

Dealing with the country's most troubling challenges requires the diligent efforts of well-intentioned adults not allegiance to partisan absolutism.   Fixing one's political star to hard-right propaganda and talking trash about a president who is trying to change the course of a foundering ship of state is about as "un-American" as it gets.