Letter to the Editor: Conspiracists and Treason

Let’s start with this question:  What is it that all Americans want? Regardless of political affiliation, all Americans want to see the proliferation of democracy all over the world. What is it that Vladimir Putin wants? Putin wants to see the destruction of all forms of democratic government everywhere in the world, which is the best way for him to maintain his control over the totalitarian government running Russia. To this end, Putin could care less whether Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton or Alfred E. Newman is president. Putin’s end-game is destruction of our form of government.

So, what is the most effective and least expensive way for Putin to destroy our democracy? Clearly, this is by destroying our confidence in our government. To this end, Putin doesn’t need to make direct attacks such as having his hackers go in and alter voting records, he only needs to find ways to plant the seeds of suspicion in our minds. A prime example is the claim that someone is sending paid sympathy actors to the scenes of mass shootings. Once circulated, such claims plant seeds of suspicion that hamper any attempts to conduct meaningful discussions on firearms, which in turn further reduces our confidence that our government is capable of coming to any kind of resolution of the issue.

What is most insidious/brilliant about this strategy is that even the most preposterous claims plant a few seeds, and even when such claims are immediately disproven, the seeds will already be planted, germinating, and spreading. Further, shutting down sources of such claims will do little good, since new sources will continue to spring up faster than they are shut down.

So how do we face what appears to be such a hopeless situation? I suggest that we start by recalling the answer to the first two questions posed here. What is it that all Americans want? What is it that Vladimir Putin wants? Then when we hear any bit of news, we should ask the question:  To which end does this bit of news support? Does this bit of news serve to in some way strengthen us as a nation, or does it serve to destroy our confidence in our democracy by planting the seeds of hate, fear, and suspicion? If it is the latter, then there is a real possibility that unquestioning belief in the news ultimately aids and abets Putin’s war on democracy… and that’s treason.

Mark Polczynski

Baileys Harbor, Wis.