Jim Cathcart was raised in Arkansas and made his way out to the West Coast, where he became a highly successful professional speaker, mega-author of numerous books and articles, and a leader in the area of personal and executive development, leadership, and business strategy. I've known Jim since 1984, have been friends ever since, and can tell you he absolutely tells it like it is.
He circulated a letter recently called, “A Recap of the News,” which has some remarkable insights, and is worth sharing here:
A Recap of the News…
Banning books (Burbank, CA); rioting in the streets (Portland, OR); breaking glass windows (Minneapolis, Kenosha, Portland, Baltimore, and our nation's Capitol); controlling language (U.S. Congress); denying nature (gender denial in sports); accusations of disloyalty (investigating political preferences and voting history); and isolating and excluding opponents (Parler blockage, sponsorship, and distribution denials)...
Demonization of disagreement (using terms like "domestic terrorism" and "white supremacy" to label people as suspicious or undesirable or dangerous); suggesting that racism is so deep and so bad that those guilty of it don't even realize it and can't do anything to change, therefore reparation and unending guilt are required...
Putting "ism" on the end of any behavior or attitude that threatens your narrative (national-ism, sex-ism, Trump-ism); restricting businesses so much that millions of people become unemployed and unable to find work (thereby requiring dependency on a government rescue)...
Changing school curricula to exclude historical truths and doubling-down on new priorities and prejudices; restricting public gatherings and church meetings; inhibiting family get-togethers; and encouraging the isolation and public shaming of those who disagree...
Adding new travel restrictions that require "papers" (covid testing and vaccination); releasing dangerous criminals from prison early; welcoming unvetted immigrants; demonizing police and border security; and amassing the military to imply massive levels of danger to the “leaders”...
Making the legal ownership of guns seem to be dangerous unless the government controls them (HR 5717 on the house agenda now); shaming and isolating groups and companies you disagree with (NRA, MyPillow, Goya Foods)...
Controlling the narrative of the news; demonizing the networks or commentators who have huge followings (Fox, Newsmax, OANN, Glenn Beck, Bill O'Reilly, Rush Limbaugh, Tucker Carlson)...
Publicizing the home addresses of people you disagree with so they can be threatened at home (Lindsey Graham, Josh Hawley, Mitch McConnell); attacking your major opponents long after you've won so that future resistance is impossible (Trump impeachment post election); denying news coverage of stories critical of the current leadership (Hunter Biden's corruption)...
Demonizing capitalism; abandoning all limits to spending; and positioning debt as something that lenders should "forgive”...
Restricting the country's ability to remain energy independent; diminishing the danger posed to us by aggressive foreign countries; recommending the isolation and "reprogramming" of your opponents (Trump voters)...
Jim then asks, does any of this appear to be a pattern to you? Is any of it familiar? Is it possible to follow this path and arrive at "Unity"? Is there anything in this that sounds like America to you? Does the continuation of this approach lead to anything you want to see?
The Path to Unity?
I wonder, what exactly do we conclude when an administration and a political party backed by a duplicitous media apparently intend to thoroughly dominate society and contort reality? Clearly, we on the right will not succumb to this treatment. And, we must embrace the realization that multi-millions of people on the left strongly or perhaps passively agree with the left power mongers.
Alas, it is nearly impossible to reach the left’s rank and file. They've been so taken over by the liberal media, that although they're one mouse click away from alternative news sites, which would give them perspective, they never make that click.
This is the quintessential dilemma of our age. A free and fair press would help unite the country because we could all agree on the truth of situations. The press that we have is worse than the Soviet Union of the 1930s. They spew propaganda around-the-clock with no sign of letting up, and they are getting stronger all the time.