Sunday, July 30
Dear editor;
This concerns recent commentaries by John and Nisha Whitehead in The Voice.
The Whiteheads warn us in the first paragraph of the June 22, 2023, issue of The Voice, that Donald Trump’s indictment accusing him of mishandling and hiding classified documents and obstruction of justice is a “fiasco, and political theater” to “divert” our attention from “the sinister advances “of the “American deep state”. Apparently it is just the latest in a “series of distractions” and the Whiteheads do not want us to become “mesmerized”. Two paragraphs later they continue with their astonishing claim that the government is “dominated by two political factions that pretend to be at odds with each other, all the while moving in lockstep to maintain the status quo.”’
With my keen eye for the obvious, I believe Trump was indicted by the Department of Justice, that it was neither a fiasco nor political theater, and John Whitehead, himself a constitutional lawyer knows this quite well, though it does not fit into their narrative.
Within the Whiteheads’ narrative, “the government” is always the quintessential bad actor: “Goosestepping over our freedoms, the government has been transformed into a military dictatorship” and “most Americans seem untroubled by this state of martial law”. Driving the government’s so-called assault on constitutional freedoms is the “deep state”, which can apparently survive changing administrations, the “police state”, that institutes the martial law, disguised as “law and order” which is in turn “enforced by a standing army of militarized police”. All of this, the Whiteheads inform us, is controlled by the “powers that be”, at least as best as I understand.
Hyperbole is a mainstay throughout the Whiteheads’ anti-government narratives; goosestepping, military dictatorship, martial law, police state, and such, are used to emphasize how dire they feel our situation has become.
In actuality, of course, our government is not a military dictatorship, we do not live under martial law, nor are we a police state controlled by the mysterious “powers that be”. It is difficult for me to imagine that the Whiteheads expect us to believe the federal, state, county, and city governments and all the ancillary agencies and departments they entail are so organized, so together, so in tune, that the “powers that be” could successfully initiate the nefarious deeds ascribed to them…under our unsuspecting noses!
It is interesting to note the silence exhibited by the Whiteheads toward current events of the past months. I have read nothing about Trump’s other indictments, Florida’s rewriting, and whitewashing history as it is taught in school, ethics scandals involving the U.S. Supreme Court, books being banned, women’s medical options drastically curtailed, voting rights being rolled back—all of which I would have thought lie within the Whiteheads’ purview… Their silence is thunderous!
Scrutiny of our government, law enforcement agencies and all things involved is vital to democracy and I appreciate the Whiteheads’ efforts. But their hyperbolic anti-government rhetoric fosters fear, anger, and divisiveness at precisely the time in our history where attempting mutual understanding is critical; criticism ought to be credible and information specific and verifiable. Simple hyperbole yields no more information than a bumper sticker.
Go in peace.
Dave Hoehne, Aurora