Commentary: McCain, Mueller and the current state of the right

On Saturday night John McCain, former prisoner of war and senator from Arizona, died after a yearlong battle with aggressive brain cancer. While much has been written about McCain’s extraordinary life and more will certainly be forthcoming, I’m reminded of another war hero, Robert Mueller.

Like McCain, former FBI Director Mueller is a veteran of the Vietnam War and has spent most of his adult life in service to the United States. Also like McCain, Mueller has been a registered Republican his entire adult life. The similarities don’t end there, as McCain and Mueller were also united by a sense of duty and dedication to the ideals of the United States.

Both men have also been continually criticized and vilified by members of the extremes factions of their own party. On the surface, both men would seem to be odd choices for this level of vitriol given their consistent service to the nation and loyalty to the party. Looking at the individuals disparaging Mueller and McCain provides some context on their dislike of two men who can objectively be called American heroes.

One of the most vocal critics of both men has been radio host and Fox News personality Sean Hannity. Hannity has spread false stories about McCain (which he was forced to retract after being blasted in the media) and called Mueller’s investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election a witch hunt. Rush Limbaugh, another conservative firebrand and radio host, had been critical of McCain for his views on America’s place in the world and has questioned the credibility of Mueller’s investigation. To be sure, these two men are not speaking for every conservative pundit (Glenn Beck has been a notable exception, going so far as to apologize for helping to create the climate that led to Donald Trump’s election), but they do represent a particular strain of right-wing thought in 2018.

That strain of thought is at the heart of the far right’s dislike of Mueller and McCain. Both men come from prominent families, both are graduates of elite colleges (Princeton for Mueller and the Naval Academy for McCain) and both served more than honorably in Vietnam. Both also served with distinction for decades after, with McCain being elected to the Senate from Arizona and Mueller eventually becoming the director of the FBI.

Contrast that with Hannity and Limbaugh. Neither ever served in the military, and neither completed college. This is not to say that there’s anything dishonorable about those things, although, in Limbaugh’s case, there are questions over his draft deferments during Vietnam. Rather, these facts provide a contrast between the pundits (and by extension their millions of fans) and Mueller and McCain. They’re everything that Hannity and Limbaugh, as well as their audiences, are not. They also represent something that’s become anathema to the far right in 2018, which is to say they represent the value of education, service and even a certain sense of decorum.

The Trump-led GOP of 2018 is anathema to what McCain and Mueller represent, and characters like Limbaugh and Hannity are happy to remind them of that. Trump’s base of support are generally not college graduates either, and many of them are openly hostile to the idea of folks who’ve dedicated their lives to service. Take the easily debunked idea of a “deep state,” which Hannity in particular pushes as the cause of all problems that befall Trump. Fans of Hannity legitimately believe that there’s a shadowy conspiracy, led by career officials, that seeks to undermine the current president. Any attempt to convince them that the “deep state” is malarkey will instead be called “fake news.”

Much has been made of why the current president’s supporters seem completely unwilling to abandon him, completely unwilling to believe anything negative about him. It isn’t really that complicated.

These people, folks who are willfully uneducated and openly hostile to education, have found a leader and spokespeople who make who and what they are OK. Who they are as a group are people who discount science, distrust public service, demonize the media and buy into the narratives of uneducated men who tell them their fears of nonwhite people are justified. They are everything that McCain wasn’t and Mueller isn’t.

Mike Bailey

Mike Bailey is a veteran of the United State Air Force, a former Republican and currently a registered Democrat. He lives in Layton with his wife, six kids and two dogs.



from The Salt Lake Tribune https://ift.tt/2onkW6z
Mike Bailey

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