The story of "polarization" is closely tied to the unethical journalistic "ethic" of "reporting both sides." Over and over again we come back to the old question: If one side says that's it's a bright sunny day and the other side says that it's overcast and rainy, is it ethical to just report both sides, or is it ethical to look out the window and report that one side is lying?
As a retired pastor, over the decades I have heard similar thinking in the church too often. When I spoke out about social injustice, people would say, “That’s divisive. That’s polarizing. You need to bring us together.” Of course, polarization isn’t the real problem. The real problem is injustice and the failure of the church and its leaders to speak the truth clearly and courageously.
Several years ago Paul Krugman said that in its effort to be fair and balanced, if the right wing said “the Earth is flat”, the main stream media would respond “opinions on shape of Earth differ”.
I use this analogy all the time, but of course I’m talking to ordinary thinking Americans not the crazies who are in charge. And I mean in charge of the media as well.
Or if 999 scientists say one thing, like climate change is real and caused by humans, while 1 says it's a hoax, they need to give equal time to each side.
As I have always understood it, a law enforcement officer, be it a police officer, a police detective, or an immigration officer, is required to inform a person taken into custody of his or her Miranda rights at the time of apprehension. I have no knowledge that any person, including Mr. Garcia, who is now incarcerated in El Salvador, was advised of his or her Miranda rights at the time that he or she was taken into custody. If so, then each such person was denied due process at the outset and continues to be denied due process.
All that you say is true, however, it’s hard to demand your Miranda rights when they throw a black hood over your head and drag you to an airplane and throw you in it and take you to another country. There’s no lawyer right there to help you with this and there are no upstanding law-enforcement who will refuse to do exactly what you say.
Once upon a time, the Administrative Procedure Act applied to deportation hearings and procedures, but eliminated during the Eisenhower administration.
The entire process is unfair, and many of the hearings involve illiterate pro se respondents, many children, who have no capacity to understand the procedure.
Posner is good, okay, so not Miranda rights, but NO due process? How far the law has fallen. Doesn’t matter whether it’s Miranda or something else, the fact that people are being basically kidnapped and thrown into detention, with no court backup is abhorrent to the values this country used to have.
Just recently (you can verify by checking the media accounts in New Bedford, MA, a Guatemalan couple waiting in their car for their lawyer were assaulted by ICE ... personnel, i.e. the Gestapo, who broke their car windows with baseball bats and dragged them into custody before they could get any legal representation. Miranda rights? Ha.
Yes, this is being proved by Bernie and AOC! The people all want an end to the wealthy controlling their lives. They want healthcare for all, Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security. They want unions and freedom!
Over decades of being an ensured voter, every election, I have noted too many voters give multiple lame “reasons” for not voting. Far too often they complain that the politicians of their party didn’t fully meet their expectations. Most often, I don’t exactly adore the candidate of my party. Probably two thirds of the time I have voted to keep someone from power more than to put a particular person into power. But that is not necessarily bad. It’s not wrong to have a hold your nose vote - if you have reason to keep the alternative out of power.
If more had been willing to vote for Kamala even if they haven’t felt passion for her, we wouldn’t be stuck with Trump. If more had voted to protect democracy by voting against Trump we wouldn’t be here. Mathematically, when you take the entire US eligible voting block, Trump was installed by only 32% of all possible voters. We have Trump thanks to stupidity, but we also have him thanks to all those who didn’t bother to vote.
In all honesty, while I’m a committed voter, I have many friends who haven’t in the past because government & politics are not in their comfort zones or perceived sphere of influence (kuleana is the Hawaiian word). What’s happening now will wake them up. Hopefully.
This is a great point. I, too, very often casually use the term "polarization"--it's in the air we breathe, and of course the Republicans have exploited the concept in pursuit of the oldest strategy in war and politics: divide and conquer.
But on clearer reflection I realize I have Trump-voting acquaintances and friends (no, I have not ended my friendships as a gesture of my own political purity--you don't throw away a lifelong friend because of a difference in perspective). They are nice people; I like and get along with them when it comes to the day-to-dayness of our lives.
I'm not "polarized" from them. I just inhabit a different set of facts, and perhaps, if I want to be honest about the underlying humanity of us all, while we're all afraid of something, I'm afraid of different things to the things that frighten them. I'm afraid of tyranny; they're afraid of crime. I'm afraid of fascism; they're afraid of being engulfed by a totalitarianism of the left. Somewhere in our shared fear is a shared reality (including the fact that we've been manipulated by propagandists and politicians), and, in that shared reality lies the possibility of a shared solution. It's my job to find it.
I admire the very honest and clear way in which you acknowledged taking a hard look at how you define things, and then reframed them without having to blame someone else. Thank you.
Yes, Willoughby, it's the job for all of us even while we must hold our country to it's legal framework. The shared solution lies under layers of obfuscation - we have to patiently peel it away!
Actually, Rubin's article is not afraid to say that it is the FACTS, the TRUTH, that matter. There is really only one side that is obfuscating (another word for lying), one side of Congress that has no devotion to their oaths of office, there is no "totalitarianism of the left", no "shared reality" between those willing to acknowledge the warts in America's past, and those who refuse to do so. Willoughby's job is to find a way to get her friends to discuss and accept facts and truth. Our collective job is to find a way to reach and rally the silent majority. Substack and YouTube megaphones are too small, and preach only to us already in the choir. We need more prominent Democrats doing "Bernie/AOC rallies" all over the country.
I believe my job is to find common ground with people I care about, not to elevate myself as a moral guide or arbiter.
My friends know how I feel about key issues, and they engage with me with as much respect as I show them. Even my Trumpiest friend and I have had respectful, if cautious, conversations in which we've both come away having learned something.
I don't believe in teaching by lecturing and hectoring other people about their alleged ignorance and moral failings and my superior virtue.
I believe in teaching through openness, kindness, and affection--including an openness to learning as well as teaching. You have to start by realizing there's a difference between ordinary people on the one hand, and their politicians and propagandists on the other. The motives are quite different.
As for the idea of there being no totalitarianism of the left, just for starters, as a kind of appetizer, I suggest you look up the matter of Nicholas and Erika Christakis at Yale.
'Polarization' is the perfect word in the estimation of corporate media. It's both side-ism without having to acknowledge their lazy, facile 'reporting' on our politics which allows them to get away with falling back on that word. Even better, it lets them off the hook for not calling out Donald Trump and the MAGA leadership in congress, who are responsible for the destructive policies that are tanking our economy, our standing the world, and our commitment to the rule of the law. Considering how much of the leadership of corporate media has bent the knee to Trump, it's not surprising to see their media operations letting their orange god king off the hook.
Thank goodness for the rise of independent media like The Contrarian where people aren't afraid to tell - and hear - the truth.
This seems like a reasonable take on things, but there’s one glaring error. Polls show that somewhere between 45-50% of Americans support Trump, today. That means that 45-50% of Americans support authoritarianism, extremism, cruelty, lawlessness, white supremacy, corruption, incompetence - i.e all the things Trump stands for and is doing. You can’t pretend that Trump’s supporters don’t support his agenda, no matter what they tell pollsters about NATO or green energy or tariffs. MAGA loves Trump and all his lawless, corrupt, incompetent cruelty.
So true, John. We are in emotional thickets where people have identified themselves with their opinions so they feel attacked if another person (you or I) would like to explore those opinions and have a discussion. The finger goes to the emotional button - and it's usually anger or even rage. This is where we are. Many of them will have to make their discoveries (painful ones) on their own.
I wonder if there is another way to express it without turning to stark black and white terms. After all, isn't that what Jennifer was trying to get at: that most people really don't think in polarized terms, but are able to see things in a wider frame than "loses all credibility". Really, Bill? One word causes you to stop listening altogether? Or am I misreading you?
So glad to read this. In my congressional district.(NJ-7) There is a candidate for next year, running on the issue of polarization and promising to work on both sides of the aisle. This is of course, nonsense since the other side of the aisle is unremittingly fascist. I have asked her how she would deal with the current MAGA positions and of course, I’ve heard nothing from her.
Happy Tax Evasion Day! DOGE is stealing your tax revenue and giving it to rich cheaters.
The “tax gap” is likely to surge due to reduced IRS resources, making tax evasion more likely. This is attributed to DOGE-directed layoffs, which have crippled the agency’s ability to conduct audits and discover fraud. The result is a stealth giveaway to the wealthy, rewarding bad behavior and undermining federal revenue. https://open.substack.com/pub/paulkrugman/p/happy-tax-evasion-day?r=aexlz&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email
On another happy MAGA note...Trump: "Home-growns are next". Foreign gulags for US citizens while Trump's lackeys JD Rubio etc laugh at Trump telling Bukele that Trump wants to send American citizens to Bukele's gulag. BTW Rubio's DOS has revoked the visas of Nobel Peace Prize winner & former President of Costa Rica Oscar Arias as well as Costa Rican parliamentarians for daring to establish trade relations with China.
Great piece. I also recommend David Brook’s piece in The Atlantic. Historians consistently speak to the truth of past times without the “polarization” themes that you so eloquently point out here. Thank you.
Based on your recommendations I will read the David Brooks piece. But he has been so milquetoast in his writing of late, I am reluctant. My husband and I used to read him consistently, but I haven’t for a long time.
We share a common ground with other Americans in our belief in democracy and competence in government. Different policies can’t divide us as long as we respect common principles. If we are going to overthrow King Donald, we are going to have to put aside revenge and recriminations to join with moderate Republicans to end this insanity.
I so agree with this. Many of us bought into an us vs them mentality, spurred on by a media more interested in clicks than truth. And we carried it into how we regard each other. I got so tired of people dissing people rather than honestly trying to reach through the noise to find common values that could hold us together. I hope we have enough now to get us past the frightening dysfunction we have unwittingly allowed to take over. Instead of criticizing people who are seen as "crossing over", we need to support their efforts to build a coalition of folks who can work together. One thing the Indivisible group is very clear about is that we are not partisan and that anyone concerned about the overreach of the Trump administration is welcome.
The story of "polarization" is closely tied to the unethical journalistic "ethic" of "reporting both sides." Over and over again we come back to the old question: If one side says that's it's a bright sunny day and the other side says that it's overcast and rainy, is it ethical to just report both sides, or is it ethical to look out the window and report that one side is lying?
As a retired pastor, over the decades I have heard similar thinking in the church too often. When I spoke out about social injustice, people would say, “That’s divisive. That’s polarizing. You need to bring us together.” Of course, polarization isn’t the real problem. The real problem is injustice and the failure of the church and its leaders to speak the truth clearly and courageously.
for centuries
Amen. I just comments above.
Sounds like the Church leaders--and well-heeled congregants--were more concerned with not offending wealthy donors.
Thank you for your comment.
True but you don't have to convert the heathen to get to the right path. Some Congressional MAGATs may be useful. https://jerryweiss.substack.com/
Several years ago Paul Krugman said that in its effort to be fair and balanced, if the right wing said “the Earth is flat”, the main stream media would respond “opinions on shape of Earth differ”.
Enter the Paradox of Tolerance.
I use this analogy all the time, but of course I’m talking to ordinary thinking Americans not the crazies who are in charge. And I mean in charge of the media as well.
Or if 999 scientists say one thing, like climate change is real and caused by humans, while 1 says it's a hoax, they need to give equal time to each side.
Not even if 1 says it's a hoax, it's some dude driving a bro-dozer from Pennsyltucky says it's a hoax...
👆
"Other data suggest that right-wing extremism (the real source of anti-democratic fervor) has not overtaken the entire populace"
Maga is trying to subjugate not overtake
Very insightful, and an important distinction.
As I have always understood it, a law enforcement officer, be it a police officer, a police detective, or an immigration officer, is required to inform a person taken into custody of his or her Miranda rights at the time of apprehension. I have no knowledge that any person, including Mr. Garcia, who is now incarcerated in El Salvador, was advised of his or her Miranda rights at the time that he or she was taken into custody. If so, then each such person was denied due process at the outset and continues to be denied due process.
All that you say is true, however, it’s hard to demand your Miranda rights when they throw a black hood over your head and drag you to an airplane and throw you in it and take you to another country. There’s no lawyer right there to help you with this and there are no upstanding law-enforcement who will refuse to do exactly what you say.
Once upon a time, the Administrative Procedure Act applied to deportation hearings and procedures, but eliminated during the Eisenhower administration.
The entire process is unfair, and many of the hearings involve illiterate pro se respondents, many children, who have no capacity to understand the procedure.
Some history. https://news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/posner-calls-immigration-court-least-competent-agency
Posner is good, okay, so not Miranda rights, but NO due process? How far the law has fallen. Doesn’t matter whether it’s Miranda or something else, the fact that people are being basically kidnapped and thrown into detention, with no court backup is abhorrent to the values this country used to have.
As Posner said, it started with the EISENHOWER administration.
Just recently (you can verify by checking the media accounts in New Bedford, MA, a Guatemalan couple waiting in their car for their lawyer were assaulted by ICE ... personnel, i.e. the Gestapo, who broke their car windows with baseball bats and dragged them into custody before they could get any legal representation. Miranda rights? Ha.
I think Miranda rights took a hit from the Extreme Court a while back. Let me know if I’m wrong!
EVERYTHING took a hit from this court !
Miranda only applies to arrests, not to administrative detention
Same difference if no due process.
Yes, this is being proved by Bernie and AOC! The people all want an end to the wealthy controlling their lives. They want healthcare for all, Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security. They want unions and freedom!
so why don't they vote ?
Over decades of being an ensured voter, every election, I have noted too many voters give multiple lame “reasons” for not voting. Far too often they complain that the politicians of their party didn’t fully meet their expectations. Most often, I don’t exactly adore the candidate of my party. Probably two thirds of the time I have voted to keep someone from power more than to put a particular person into power. But that is not necessarily bad. It’s not wrong to have a hold your nose vote - if you have reason to keep the alternative out of power.
If more had been willing to vote for Kamala even if they haven’t felt passion for her, we wouldn’t be stuck with Trump. If more had voted to protect democracy by voting against Trump we wouldn’t be here. Mathematically, when you take the entire US eligible voting block, Trump was installed by only 32% of all possible voters. We have Trump thanks to stupidity, but we also have him thanks to all those who didn’t bother to vote.
In all honesty, while I’m a committed voter, I have many friends who haven’t in the past because government & politics are not in their comfort zones or perceived sphere of influence (kuleana is the Hawaiian word). What’s happening now will wake them up. Hopefully.
Unfortunately, our only salvation at this time rests with Congressional Republicans. We need to pressure them to step up.
Then we're done for.
So much truth in one piece! Thank you.
"SilentMajority"?!?! What the hell was "Hands Off!" on April 5th about if not to dispel that nonsense?
This is a great point. I, too, very often casually use the term "polarization"--it's in the air we breathe, and of course the Republicans have exploited the concept in pursuit of the oldest strategy in war and politics: divide and conquer.
But on clearer reflection I realize I have Trump-voting acquaintances and friends (no, I have not ended my friendships as a gesture of my own political purity--you don't throw away a lifelong friend because of a difference in perspective). They are nice people; I like and get along with them when it comes to the day-to-dayness of our lives.
I'm not "polarized" from them. I just inhabit a different set of facts, and perhaps, if I want to be honest about the underlying humanity of us all, while we're all afraid of something, I'm afraid of different things to the things that frighten them. I'm afraid of tyranny; they're afraid of crime. I'm afraid of fascism; they're afraid of being engulfed by a totalitarianism of the left. Somewhere in our shared fear is a shared reality (including the fact that we've been manipulated by propagandists and politicians), and, in that shared reality lies the possibility of a shared solution. It's my job to find it.
I admire the very honest and clear way in which you acknowledged taking a hard look at how you define things, and then reframed them without having to blame someone else. Thank you.
Yes, Willoughby, it's the job for all of us even while we must hold our country to it's legal framework. The shared solution lies under layers of obfuscation - we have to patiently peel it away!
You are exhibiting critical thinking skills which are so often overwritten by fear, ideology, and alternative reality. Good going.
Actually, Rubin's article is not afraid to say that it is the FACTS, the TRUTH, that matter. There is really only one side that is obfuscating (another word for lying), one side of Congress that has no devotion to their oaths of office, there is no "totalitarianism of the left", no "shared reality" between those willing to acknowledge the warts in America's past, and those who refuse to do so. Willoughby's job is to find a way to get her friends to discuss and accept facts and truth. Our collective job is to find a way to reach and rally the silent majority. Substack and YouTube megaphones are too small, and preach only to us already in the choir. We need more prominent Democrats doing "Bernie/AOC rallies" all over the country.
I believe my job is to find common ground with people I care about, not to elevate myself as a moral guide or arbiter.
My friends know how I feel about key issues, and they engage with me with as much respect as I show them. Even my Trumpiest friend and I have had respectful, if cautious, conversations in which we've both come away having learned something.
I don't believe in teaching by lecturing and hectoring other people about their alleged ignorance and moral failings and my superior virtue.
I believe in teaching through openness, kindness, and affection--including an openness to learning as well as teaching. You have to start by realizing there's a difference between ordinary people on the one hand, and their politicians and propagandists on the other. The motives are quite different.
As for the idea of there being no totalitarianism of the left, just for starters, as a kind of appetizer, I suggest you look up the matter of Nicholas and Erika Christakis at Yale.
'Polarization' is the perfect word in the estimation of corporate media. It's both side-ism without having to acknowledge their lazy, facile 'reporting' on our politics which allows them to get away with falling back on that word. Even better, it lets them off the hook for not calling out Donald Trump and the MAGA leadership in congress, who are responsible for the destructive policies that are tanking our economy, our standing the world, and our commitment to the rule of the law. Considering how much of the leadership of corporate media has bent the knee to Trump, it's not surprising to see their media operations letting their orange god king off the hook.
Thank goodness for the rise of independent media like The Contrarian where people aren't afraid to tell - and hear - the truth.
This seems like a reasonable take on things, but there’s one glaring error. Polls show that somewhere between 45-50% of Americans support Trump, today. That means that 45-50% of Americans support authoritarianism, extremism, cruelty, lawlessness, white supremacy, corruption, incompetence - i.e all the things Trump stands for and is doing. You can’t pretend that Trump’s supporters don’t support his agenda, no matter what they tell pollsters about NATO or green energy or tariffs. MAGA loves Trump and all his lawless, corrupt, incompetent cruelty.
Until it hurts them. And this will happen.
Yes, I agree. I was only pointing out that the 45% of Americans who are Trump supporters are not as moderate or reasonable as Jen Rubin maintains.
So true, John. We are in emotional thickets where people have identified themselves with their opinions so they feel attacked if another person (you or I) would like to explore those opinions and have a discussion. The finger goes to the emotional button - and it's usually anger or even rage. This is where we are. Many of them will have to make their discoveries (painful ones) on their own.
Excellent. This usage (along with "divisive" and others) always pisses me off.
And you nail it on the head: "bunk, ... a dangerous false equivalence, which minimizes the threat of authoritarianism."
The moment I hear it, the speaker loses all credibility.
I wonder if there is another way to express it without turning to stark black and white terms. After all, isn't that what Jennifer was trying to get at: that most people really don't think in polarized terms, but are able to see things in a wider frame than "loses all credibility". Really, Bill? One word causes you to stop listening altogether? Or am I misreading you?
On the money! Thank you.
So glad to read this. In my congressional district.(NJ-7) There is a candidate for next year, running on the issue of polarization and promising to work on both sides of the aisle. This is of course, nonsense since the other side of the aisle is unremittingly fascist. I have asked her how she would deal with the current MAGA positions and of course, I’ve heard nothing from her.
Happy Tax Evasion Day! DOGE is stealing your tax revenue and giving it to rich cheaters.
The “tax gap” is likely to surge due to reduced IRS resources, making tax evasion more likely. This is attributed to DOGE-directed layoffs, which have crippled the agency’s ability to conduct audits and discover fraud. The result is a stealth giveaway to the wealthy, rewarding bad behavior and undermining federal revenue. https://open.substack.com/pub/paulkrugman/p/happy-tax-evasion-day?r=aexlz&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email
On another happy MAGA note...Trump: "Home-growns are next". Foreign gulags for US citizens while Trump's lackeys JD Rubio etc laugh at Trump telling Bukele that Trump wants to send American citizens to Bukele's gulag. BTW Rubio's DOS has revoked the visas of Nobel Peace Prize winner & former President of Costa Rica Oscar Arias as well as Costa Rican parliamentarians for daring to establish trade relations with China.
Great piece. I also recommend David Brook’s piece in The Atlantic. Historians consistently speak to the truth of past times without the “polarization” themes that you so eloquently point out here. Thank you.
Based on your recommendations I will read the David Brooks piece. But he has been so milquetoast in his writing of late, I am reluctant. My husband and I used to read him consistently, but I haven’t for a long time.
We share a common ground with other Americans in our belief in democracy and competence in government. Different policies can’t divide us as long as we respect common principles. If we are going to overthrow King Donald, we are going to have to put aside revenge and recriminations to join with moderate Republicans to end this insanity.
I so agree with this. Many of us bought into an us vs them mentality, spurred on by a media more interested in clicks than truth. And we carried it into how we regard each other. I got so tired of people dissing people rather than honestly trying to reach through the noise to find common values that could hold us together. I hope we have enough now to get us past the frightening dysfunction we have unwittingly allowed to take over. Instead of criticizing people who are seen as "crossing over", we need to support their efforts to build a coalition of folks who can work together. One thing the Indivisible group is very clear about is that we are not partisan and that anyone concerned about the overreach of the Trump administration is welcome.
If only they would reach out and try to join with us. I don’t see any movement in the Senate where it counts
@ Pam. 7 Republican senators have cosponsored the bill that will elimanate Trump tariff authority. https://www.grassley.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/trade_review_act.pdf
A number. of Congressional Reopublicans say they want to talk.
IMHO the main reason is national security. 22 senate Republicans voted to support Ukraine. Dozens of Republican House members. Tjhey didn't sign up to join the axis of evil. E.G. https://bacon.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=262
A lot of the corporations that supported Trump are losing financially and in market share, portending doom. Although he alleges that he paused tariffs, at least 10% remain and as always he is easily caught in his lies. https://www.forbes.com/sites/giacomotognini/2025/04/03/the-10-biggest-billionaire-losers-of-the-tariff-war-so-far/
You can find Trump's donors here. https://www.opensecrets.org/newsletter/signup-form?gad_source=1&gbraid=0AAAAAB1mwfr91aCn9pXr6incGuaZO9pOw&gclid=CjwKCAjwwe2_BhBEEiwAM1I7seYTuBp8UP0_yDjRGzVZW53Uq3b2atNzkzUJSBnpPeBEutBoZpCZFxoC6jEQAvD_BwE
We should contact Trump's adversely affected corporate donors to pressure Congressional Republicans, too.
Pam, I suspect it's happening under the radar.
Not good enough, courage is contagious as we’ve heard often enough on Substack!
It starts at home, and works its way up. And it's up to us to make those first moves.
However, our elections are also being corrupted.