The story that keeps repeating itself

As a writer, I spend a lot of time thinking about narrative. Because everything I do, whether it’s writing a new novel, or recording the next episode of my radio show, or interviewing someone for my podcast, needs to have a compelling storyline or it’s not going to draw people in.

But it hasn’t been until the last few years that I’ve thought about narrative in political terms; about how much it is utilized to sway the public toward a certain view or certain candidate.

This past week, I attended an excellent conference called “Gathering Wisdom, Building Power,” sponsored by a non-profit called Big Sky 55+, and I had the honor of appearing on a panel, along with my distinguished colleague Darrell Ehrlick, addressing misinformation in the media. And as I was trying to decide how to approach the topic, I thought about what it would have been like when I was a kid if someone had tried to pull some of the stunts that certain politicians do today. And of course, I thought of one politician in particular. I was trying to imagine how the media would have handled it in the ‘60s if a candidate tried to claim that the election had been stolen, especially after the courts had determined time and again that they were wrong, and I had this wonderful image of Walter Cronkite announcing on the “CBS Evening News”: “The courts today determined that the election was not stolen, and that’s the way it is.”

That would have been the end of the story. The major networks would have felt no obligation to repeat this narrative again and again. But in today’s media storm, with 24-hour news coverage, not to mention tens of thousands of podcasts, blogs, talk radio and social media, the Republican Party has made it their primary focus to utilize these resources to repeat the narrative they want the American public to hear. So nearly four years later, we still have to hear the phrase “the election was stolen” how many times every day?

The fact that the reputable sources like National Public Radio add a qualifier like “allegedly” doesn’t matter. Because the whole point is keeping that narrative alive. Like an ear worm, stories like this won’t go away.  

Or will they? I was going to call this post “Changing the Narrative,” but the more I thought about it, the more I realized that you really can’t change the narrative. They are going to keep putting it out there no matter what we do. The goal is to wear people out until they give up. Donald Trump has built an entire career on this strategy. Everyone knows he’s going to do it, whether he’s fighting a court case or trying to convince people that he’s never wrong. History has proven that people have a breaking point.

That makes it that much more important that we don’t surrender to that same old narrative. I have heard so many people say they can’t listen to the news anymore, or they can’t read another thing about what’s going on in this country because they’re so afraid, and feel so helpless. I feel that, too.

All the time. It can be overwhelming. And the worst part about it is that it’s impossible to measure whether whatever effort we do make is even making a dent. We can’t possibly know.

Thankfully, there are Republicans out there who see what’s happening and are doing what they can to fight this trend. I’m going to be posting a fabulous interview I had last week with Tammi Fisher, a Republican lawyer from Kalispell who once served as the mayor. She has been hosting a podcast called “Montana Values” for a few years now, and one of her main topics is exposing the authoritarian antics of the current Republican party in Montana. We have allies in the cause, and we need to utilize them.

And I believe the cause has become more important than ever. Because history has shown that it’s silence that is our biggest enemy. Silence becomes complicity. Silence gives the narrative a chance to continue, and to grow. Which is why we have to attack the narrative with the truth.