Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., has refused to allow her party the luxury of uncontested lying. A party that still wallows in the “big lie” of a stolen election, offers outlandish conspiracy theories such as blaming the police and not the mob for the results of the Jan. 6 insurrection, and conducts a campaign of slander against the nation’s most esteemed immunologist should not be able to rely on the right-wing echo chamber to blot out inconvenient facts.
But while intentional misrepresentation is now rampant and widely accepted in the GOP, there is also a problem of abject ignorance, as Cheney told The New York Times’ Mark Leibovich in an interview: “‘We’ve got people we’ve entrusted with the perpetuation of the Republic who don’t know what the rule of law is,’ she said. ‘We probably need to do Constitution boot camps for newly sworn-in members of Congress. Clearly.’ “She said her main pursuit now involved teaching basic civics to voters who had been misinformed by Mr. Trump and other Republicans who should know better. ‘I’m not naive about the education that has to go on here,’ Ms. Cheney said. ‘This is dangerous. It’s not complicated. I think Trump has a plan.’” Representatives such as Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., and Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., serve as a reminder that a working knowledge of the Constitution is not a requirement for members of Congress. It is tempting to say that members of Congress in the MAGA cult must be lying because no one could possibly be so uninformed, but both are likely at play. If Cheney is right about the ignorance of her colleagues (they seem daily to prove her point) and the Republican base, then we should think seriously about the remedy.
Constitutional boot camps, a refresher course in U.S. history and a complete study of the writing and speeches of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. (not just the parts they select to justify their resistance) could shake lawmakers and their staffs from their intellectual stupor. This is not about political persuasion; it’s about a basic grounding in American democratic values.
Cheney should not stop there. She and her few sober-minded colleagues might consider using floor time at the end of the day to provide easily digestible lessons. “No, the House cannot change the outcome of a presidential election,” might be one. Another timely primer could be something along the lines of: “The Justice Department is not the president’s personal law firm.” The eyes of some Republican lawmakers might glaze over if asked to read the Federalist Papers, but even they should be able to digest five-minute videos and short transcripts about the role of the free press and the necessity of an independent judiciary.
The problem of a methodically misinformed base is arguably a tougher one to solve. The damage that right-wing media have wrought in dumbing down the GOP base is hard to estimate. Voters don’t know what they don’t know — or what they have learned incorrectly.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Cheney and her small band of reality-based Republicans — as well as current and former Republican governors (who are trusted in their home states) and respected former judges (such as Michael McConnell, previously on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit) — would do well to insinuate themselves into the right-wing media diet of GOP voters. Painful as it might be, they need to go on the programs hosted by the worst purveyors of falsehoods and explain elementary aspects of American government.
They also need to bring civics and history instruction to evangelical churches and religious news outlets. The point is not to further politicize churches but to help congregants badly in need of a primer on why they should value democracy.
Instead of railing at mythical anti-conservative bias in social media, Republicans concerned about the descent into ignorance should challenge self-described conservatives to limit their intake of social media. That’s right — deny Facebook more eyeballs! Encourage fellow Americans to do something worthwhile (volunteer their time, join a book club, read to children) in place of the constant intake of noxious online content designed to promote radicalization and anger.
Cheney and others still hoping to reform the GOP must meet the ignorant, the misguided and the misinformed where they are. Denying both Republican politicians and their voters refuge in an alternate reality might be the Cheney Republicans’ greatest challenge. Certainly, many of the most entrenched cultists are not reachable, but millions of others might be. It is too much to hope to instill virtue in our fellow Americans, but raising the level of civic literacy is not beyond our reach.
Jennifer Rubin writes for The Washington Post.