{"id":15219,"date":"2020-10-31T08:36:21","date_gmt":"2020-10-31T12:36:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/?p=15219"},"modified":"2020-10-31T09:53:15","modified_gmt":"2020-10-31T13:53:15","slug":"usa-today-neither-trump-nor-biden-deserve-honeymoon-from-cynicism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2020\/10\/31\/usa-today-neither-trump-nor-biden-deserve-honeymoon-from-cynicism\/","title":{"rendered":"USA TODAY: Neither Trump Nor Biden Deserve Honeymoon from Cynicism"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"\"<\/a>USA TODAY,\u00a0 October 31, 2020<\/h2>\n

Neither Donald Trump nor Joe Biden deserve a honeymoon from cynicism<\/a><\/h1>\n
by James Bovard<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\u201cThe biggest threat to our democracy is cynicism,\u201d declared former president Barack Obama<\/a> two years ago.\u00a0But as we enter the final days of another demagoguery-drenched presidential campaign, it is time to give cynicism the credit it deserves.\u00a0In an era of clueless voters, conniving candidates\u00a0and media bias, cynicism can be one of the most effective checks and balances on political power run amok.<\/p>\n

In modern American history, the most audacious liars have been the greatest self-proclaimed enemies of cynicism<\/strong>. \u201cThe only deadly sin I know is cynicism,\u201d declared President Lyndon Johnson<\/a> in a 1967 press conference on how the Vietnam War was going great. In a 1973 nationally-televised speech, President Richard Nixon declared<\/a>, \u201cI reject the cynical view that politics is inevitably, or even usually, a dirty business\u201d prior to deluging viewers with false claims on the burgeoning Watergate scandal.<\/p>\n

In 1994, President Clinton derided citizens who \u201cindulge themselves in the luxury of cynicism<\/a>\u201d for betraying the American soldiers who died on D-Day in 1944.\u00a0In 1997, Clinton declared that people can make America \u201cbetter if we will suspend our cynicism<\/a>.\u201d This is the Peter Pan theory of public service: if only people believed government has magical powers, politicians could achieve miracles.\u00a0After his impeachment, Clinton castigated<\/a> \u201cfashionable cynicism\u201d as \u201cself-indulgent arrogance that has no place in America.\u201d But it wasn\u2019t cynics\u2019 fault that Clinton helped make presidential candor an endangered species.<\/p>\n

Cynicism is a natural blowback to deceit<\/h2>\n

George W. Bush exploited the revulsion against Clinton, promising America \u201ca fresh start after a season of cynicism<\/a>\u201d when he launched his presidential campaign in 1999. In his first inaugural address, President Bush touted positive thinking about politicians as civic duty, lecturing Americans of their <\/a>\u201ccalling\u201d to make a \u201cdetermined choice of trust over cynicism.\u201d In the same 2002 State of the Union where he uncorked \u201cthe Axis of Evil\u201d to pave the way to war with Iraq, Bush declared<\/a>, \u201cDeep in the American character, there is honor, and it is stronger than\u00a0cynicism.\u201d Bush repeatedly rebuked the cynicism<\/a> of anyone who refused to cheer<\/a>\u00a0his invasion of Iraq<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Barack Obama exploited the revulsion against Bush, proclaiming in 2007\u00a0<\/a>that \u201cmy rival in this [presidential] race is not other candidates. It\u2019s cynicism.\u201d\u00a0Six years later, President Obama exhorted college graduates<\/a> to beware of the \u201ccreeping cynicism\u201d and people who \u201cwarn that tyranny is always lurking just around the corner.\u201d He did not seize that opportunity to how he acquired the prerogative to order drone killings <\/a>of American citizens on his own decree.<\/p>\n

Politicians denouncing cynicism are akin to used car salesmen telling customers to ignore the clunking sound from the engine during a test drive. Cynicism is blowback from decades of deceit.<\/strong> Most of the major political power grabs in modern history have been propelled by official falsehoods, as have all the major wars <\/a>since 1950. Perpetual bipartisan chicanery explains why\u00a0only 20% of Americans trust the federal government <\/a>nowadays.<\/p>\n

Cynicism often arises because politicians judge themselves by their rhetoric while citizens judge them by their (mis)deeds. The alternative to cynicism is pretending that politicians are more honest than they sound.\u00a0Are politicians, like underage delinquents, entitled to have all their prior offenses expunged?<\/p>\n

Cynicism is necessary because the political playing field is often tilted in favor of servility.<\/strong> Politicians are almost never held personally responsible for their falsehoods, follies\u00a0and fiascos. Thanks to pervasive federal secrecy and surveillance, rulers hold far more cards than citizens. People have been schooled and hectored to submit, to believe\u00a0and to reflexively defer to officialdom. Scores of millions of people will unquestioningly obey no matter what Washington commands.<\/p>\n

Cynicism is a form of political damage control. An ounce of cynicism can save a pound of repenting. Cynicism functions as a brake on political steamrollers.<\/strong> Timely doubts loudly expressed can stop presidents from driving a nation over a cliff or into a foreign quagmire.<\/p>\n

Don’t intellectually disarm yourself for political aggressors<\/h2>\n

Politicians seek to banish cynicism without repenting their rascally ways.\u00a0Why should citizens intellectually disarm themselves in the face of political aggressors?<\/strong>\u00a0Why should they accept the passive obedience that was preached for centuries to the politically downtrodden? Are citizens obliged to continually cast their common sense and memories\u00a0overboard as if they were seeking to placate an angry pagan god?<\/p>\n

The derision of cynicism\u00a0goes to heart of citizens’ role in a democracy. If citizens have a duty to believe, then politicians are entitled to deceive.<\/strong> If citizens are obliged to trust, they become sacrificial offerings for the next political con job. A cynic is often merely someone who trusts politicians as little as politicians trust each other.<\/p>\n

Cynicism is simply a discount rate for political honesty.<\/strong>\u00a0Even cynics should not presume that\u00a0all politicians are perfidious\u00a0all the time.\u00a0There are decent folks in every profession.\u00a0Instead, citizens should judge politicians like federal judges treat accused criminals<\/a> \u2014\u00a097% of whom are convicted.<\/p>\n

Cynicism can be pro-freedom, spurring resistance rather than resignation.<\/strong>\u00a0Stalwart citizens should be cynical when politicians concoct new pretexts to subvert freedom of speech and press, cynical when politicians conspire to violate the Constitution, cynical when politicians seek to drag America into new foreign conflicts, and cynical when politicians propose sweeping new federal programs to replace disgraced boondoggles.\u00a0Most importantly, citizens should be cynical when politicians absolve themselves for all the damage they have inflicted on this nation.<\/p>\n

Winning politicians often enjoy a honeymoon after Election Day, but neither Donald Trump nor Joe Biden deserve any honeymoon from cynicism. \u201cThink well of your masters\u201d will be the death of democracy. The more cynical Americans become, the less power politicians can seize.<\/strong><\/p>\n

James Bovard, author of “Attention Deficit Democracy<\/a>,” is a member of USA TODAY\u2019s Board of Contributors. Follow him on Twitter:\u00a0@JimBovard<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

USA TODAY,\u00a0 October 31, 2020 Neither Donald Trump nor Joe Biden deserve a honeymoon from cynicism by James Bovard \u201cThe biggest threat to our democracy is cynicism,\u201d declared former president Barack Obama two years ago.\u00a0But as we enter the final days of another demagoguery-drenched presidential campaign, it is time to give cynicism the credit it […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11907,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[887,426,327,729,753,137,428,27,473,927,1479],"class_list":["post-15219","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-barack-obama","tag-bill-clinton","tag-cynicism","tag-deceit","tag-donald-trump","tag-george-w-bush","tag-joe-biden","tag-lying","tag-lyndon-johnson","tag-richard-nixon","tag-wars"],"yoast_head":"\nUSA TODAY: Neither Trump Nor Biden Deserve Honeymoon from Cynicism - James Bovard<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Cynicism is an invaluable form of political damage control, a check-and-balance on a system that is otherwise failing\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2020\/10\/31\/usa-today-neither-trump-nor-biden-deserve-honeymoon-from-cynicism\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"USA TODAY: Neither Trump Nor Biden Deserve Honeymoon from Cynicism - James Bovard\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Cynicism is an invaluable form of political damage control, a check-and-balance on a system that is otherwise failing\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2020\/10\/31\/usa-today-neither-trump-nor-biden-deserve-honeymoon-from-cynicism\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"James Bovard\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/jim.bovard\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-10-31T12:36:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-10-31T13:53:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/USA-Today-logo-300x300.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"225\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"225\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jim\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@jimbovard\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jim\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2020\\\/10\\\/31\\\/usa-today-neither-trump-nor-biden-deserve-honeymoon-from-cynicism\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2020\\\/10\\\/31\\\/usa-today-neither-trump-nor-biden-deserve-honeymoon-from-cynicism\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Jim\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/79550830ad81c14be529a2c37469974f\"},\"headline\":\"USA TODAY: Neither Trump Nor Biden Deserve Honeymoon from Cynicism\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-10-31T12:36:21+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-10-31T13:53:15+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2020\\\/10\\\/31\\\/usa-today-neither-trump-nor-biden-deserve-honeymoon-from-cynicism\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":985,\"commentCount\":5,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2020\\\/10\\\/31\\\/usa-today-neither-trump-nor-biden-deserve-honeymoon-from-cynicism\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/04\\\/USA-Today-logo-300x300.png\",\"keywords\":[\"barack obama\",\"Bill Clinton\",\"Cynicism\",\"deceit\",\"donald trump\",\"George W. 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The Wall Street Journal called Bovard \"the roving inspector general of the modern state\" and Washington Post columnist George Will called him a \"one-man truth squad.\" His 1994 book, Lost Rights: The Destruction of American Liberty, received the Free Press Association\u2019s Mencken Award as Book of the Year. His Terrorism & Tyranny won the Lysander Spooner \"Best Book on Liberty in 2003\" award. He received the Thomas Szasz Award for Civil Liberties work, awarded by the Center for Independent Thought and the Freedom Fund Award from the Firearms Civil Rights Defense Fund of the National Rifle Association. Bovard\u2019s writings have been publicly denounced by FBI director Louis Freeh, the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, the Postmaster General, and the chiefs of the U.S. International Trade Commission, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, as well as by many congressmen and other malcontents.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.jimbovard.com","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/jim.bovard","https:\/\/x.com\/jimbovard"],"url":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/author\/admin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15219","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15219"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15219\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15222,"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15219\/revisions\/15222"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11907"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15219"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15219"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15219"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}