| WEAPONS OF MASS DELUSION When the Republican Party Lost its Mind Robert Draper Louie Palu (photographs) New York: Penguin Press, April 2022 |
Rating: 5.0 High |
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| ISBN-13 978-0-583-30014-5 | ||||
| ISBN-10 0-583-30014-9 | 384pp. | HC/BWI | $29.00 | |
Robert Draper is known for deeply detailed documentation on the doings of Washington politicians. My first experience of his work was Do Not Ask What Good We Do, about the 112th Congress. Here he takes us inside the 117th Congress — surely, on the Republican side of the aisle, one of the most intellectually misshapen collections of individuals in the history of this republic.
He begins with Paul Gosar. The Arizona Republican is one of those who embraced the false rumors that the 2020 presidential election had been stolen from Donald Trump — rumors growing out of Trump's refrain that he would only lose if he had been cheated. He began to spread this claim on election night 2020, even as early tallies showed Biden ahead in key states and in the Electoral College total. It soon became The Big Lie, and an article of faith in the Republican base which no member of that party holding elected office could dare to contradict. Gosar was the first to object as the states' delegations were polled on confirmation. Senator Ted Cruz joined him, disrupting what had always been a pro forma ceremony.
Then came the hitherto unthinkable events of 6 January 2021, when a mob invited by Trump stormed the Capitol building with murder on their minds. None of their targets were murdered, but 5 police officers died and 140 were injured in the mayhem which lasted roughly six hours. At the end of it the Joint Session of Congress resumed and confirmed President Biden's election. But that did not prevent 147 Republicans from voting against confirmation. Republican Liz Cheney of Wyoming was in the minority who voted "Aye." She had been stalwart throughout the tumultuous day, doing what she could to restore sanity to her party's representatives, without success. Minority leader Kevin McCarthy led them astray.
But then McCarthy said, "We solve problems before our nation not through destruction but through debate. That is the heart of this democracy. I know what we debate today is tough, but it is just. It is right." Cheney was stunned. Even after a deadly insurrection, Kevin McCarthy was once again giving his approval for House members of his party to attempt to overturn the election. Even after a riot stoked by lies, the truth was literally up for debate. She walked off the floor, not wanting to hear the rest of McCarthy's speech. – Page 32 |
Draper has, with his typical diligence, explored and recounted the behavior of heroes and villains in this unfolding drama in great detail. I see no need to repeat much of that here, since every American who's paying attention has heard the major elements of the story:1
The fact that such massive delusions could enthrall so many Americans is appalling — yet it is inescapable fact. This comes from Draper's description of a rally held at the Dream City Church in Phoenix in early 2022. The rally was one well-attended stop for a traveling road show called the ReAwaken America Tour.2
As the crowd murmured in wonderment at the revelation, it seemed to me that all the distinctions between the day's speakers had gone ablur in the Phoenix megachurch. Preachers, politicians, and doctors alike were conveying, in the same spiritual overtones, the same sense of delusion, of suspended reality—one in which Mike Flynn could casually claim, without the slightest need for proof, that "we've had fraudulent elections for over a hundred years," just as other speakers could postulate that COVID was a phony pretext for gene editing and mind control. The more hyperbolic and impossible to believe their assertions were, the greater the distance separating themselves from the elites they mocked as confirmed professional liars. America had been lied to; now cometh the ReAwakeners on a crimson stampede of counter-lies. It was a wave that rode Donald Trump to victory in 2016. It was one that delivered Marjory Taylor Greene from CrossFit to QAnon to Congress, and Paul Gosar from utter obscurity to minor celebrity. There was, in short, an audience for losing one's mind and espousing lies as "God-feel." Doing so, and deluding audiences en masse, was a fateful proposition, however. It was not a traffic lane one could swerve in and out of on a whim. As when Caesar and his army crossed the Rubicon to commit treason against the Roman Empire, there could be no turning back. – Pages 309-310 |
As with most political stories, this one has a large cast of characters. Among Republicans, former representatives Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger are the major heroes. There are others, including the 10 members of the House who voted to impeach Trump, and Peter Meijer: a sensible public servant who fell afoul of a primary challenge from a Trumpeteer. Kevin McCarthy and Senator McConnell are major villains, as is Paul Gosar with his unhinged actions. But Marjorie Taylor Greene comes off as the major threat. A Trump favorite elected in a solidly crimson district of northwest Georgia, she has little reason to fear challenges, and her ability to raise funds through roguery ensures her a prominent role in a party consumed by cultural rebellion. Draper is one of the few journalists who has managed extensive interviews with her. He describes her as intelligent and suggests her outrageous positions are mostly an act. Whether or not that's true, the fact that she wields so much influence in her party is a danger to democracy.
Despite the complexity of the story it tells, the book reads quickly. Each of the generally short chapters leads off with a black and white picture of the person or persons mentioned in that chapter.3 I found no grammatical or factual errors, and only one poor choice of words. There are source notes and a good index. I give it top marks and consider it worth reading. However, I rate it a keeper only for political junkies.
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