This is Exactly Who We’ve Always Been
This week’s been bursting with politicians’ tired takes claiming “this isn’t who we are.” Oh, that cliched phrase of American exceptionalism. It seems to surface monthly at this point, so I wonder: if it must be said so frequently, doesn’t it make the opposite true? This is exactly who we are and who a country founded on imperialism has always been.
As white nationalists stormed the hallowed halls of democracy on Wednesday, an act incited by the president who then hid behind his keyboard, the public worried if we should be working during the coup. And noting the fact that Congress looked eerily similar to school shooting drills, one high schooler wrote me: “Do you think we’ll at least get gun regulation now?” That’s America. In this country, 100 citizens die by guns every single day, our “leaders” stoke angry, racist mobs in exchange for power, and police kill innocent people while letting Neo-Nazis run free. All the while, we watch disingenuous, wealth-hoarding politicians on television tearfully say: “This isn’t us though.” To which I say: you haven’t been paying attention.
As any historian or tech reporter or disinformation analyst knew, America’s always been wrought with groups like that seen in Washington. Like EJ Dickson wrote for Rolling Stone: “This is The United States of QAnon.” The wannabe actor/self-proclaimed “QAnon shaman,” donning fur…
