Get Involved

“Freedom isn’t free. It shouldn’t be a bragging point that ‘Oh, I don’t get involved in politics,’ as if that makes someone cleaner. No, that makes you derelict of duty in a republic. Liars and panderers in government would have a much harder time of it if so many people didn’t insist on their right to remain ignorant and blindly agreeable.”

Bill Maher

Why We Can’t Forget Mitt Romney

Last week Scott Prouty, the man behind the infamous 47% video, came forward on MSNBC’s the Ed Show. The recent public awareness of Scott Prouty, now several months after the US Presidential election, has lead to repeated uses of a certain, chilling, four letter word. Mitt.

For myself, never hearing the name Mitt Romney again would have been too soon. Many on the left echoed this sentiment. Bill Maher, shortly after the election’s completion, petitioned Romney’s name never be spoken again.

When I first heard Bill Maher’s proclamation I agreed wholeheartedly. I wanted to block out the memory of the entire election campaign and think about the future challenges and tasks ahead for America, post-election. Rather than hover in a state of exhausted exasperation with the far-right, I wanted to ignore them completely.

Since the election, the conversation shifted to more tangible challenges and away from the details of post-election analysis. Gun violence, unemployment, obesity, and education have all sparked necessary discussion in America and around the world. Prouty’s recent public appearances however, have brought the election back to mind.

The Democratic win in the 2012 election should not cause the left to ignore Romney and his fellow Tea Partiers. Regardless of the election’s outcome, these far-right voices are still present in current debates, as we have seen in discussions surrounding gun violence. Their influence can still be felt.

According to recent research however, America is becoming less conservative, not more. The far-right is not a larger group, merely a louder one. These extreme right-wing views are being broadcasted from a significantly smaller portion of the population than people realize.

As tempting as it may be to shut out the noise of the minority American far-right, we must instead listen and speak out.

What good are more voices if they remain silent?