Opinion/Streetalk

By CHRIStIANE BRoWN

Stay loud, outraged, vigilant

As when we watched the towers fall in 2001, the unreality of this moment has engendered not only worldwide grief, but, for many, despair. We continue to reel in sick horror, shell-shocked by the incomprehensible, struggling to process the unthinkable, and daily, the Inauguration draws eerily closer.

But surrendering to the unprecedented elevation of a grotesque and loathsome racist to America’s highest office cannot be our only option. We cannot return to the racist idealism of the pre-civil rights 1950s.

The corporate-owned media, the Congress and the Republican party are seeking to normalize this nightmare, just as they normalized Trump’s flagrantly racist, misogynistic, xenophobic, self-aggrandizing candidacy. Collective shock can be paralyzing, but we must strain every nerve to combat this outcome.

These are the times when evil is done—Japanese internment camps, the passage of the PATRIOT Act, the Iraq War, warrant-less wiretapping, electronic voting—all ushered in during times of national shock, because shock takes advantage of ignorance and fear. Corporate media, with its endless blather, strives to convince us Trump’s presidency is a fait accompli—not a looming disaster to be derailed. In the same way, the media convinced Americans that there were weapons of mass destruction, that George W. Bush was legitimately elected, and that Bernie Sanders wasn’t a viable candidate.

At what point do we, as a nation, stand up and say no?

The corporate media’s goal of ratings over responsible journalism and the Democratic Party’s intentional sandbagging of the Sanders campaign can share the blame for this debacle. While barely mentioning Sen. Sanders’ record-breaking crowds and rallies, coverage of Trump vs. Clinton was non-stop, convincing viewers they had only two choices: Trump’s lurid, racist, disgusting behavior or Hillary Clinton’s dishonesty and Wall Street associations.

It is high time that voters sought their own reality and learned from these mistakes. We mustn’t be swayed, pacified or shamed into stepping weakly aside and accepting Donald Trump as commander in chief simply because MSNBC, NPR, Fox, ABC or CBS say we should. His election is by far the most terrifying result of the powerful 24/7 misinformation machine that hypnotizes our uninformed public into working against its own interests.

But no one gets a pass anymore. America has reached the end of the line, the nadir of our democracy—and no excuse is good enough for being uninformed.

Our remaining lifeboat is to arm ourselves with the truth. Fight the misinformation machine, do our research, follow the money, question authority, turn off the corporate noise box, and stockpile and share genuine, vetted information from independent news and information sites. They say, “The truth will set you free.”

Right now U.S. democracy is in lockdown. Being uninformed in the aftermath of this election is as dangerous as Donald Trump himself. Ω

Christiane Brown is a veteran Nevada broadcaster and an Emmy awardwinning writer, producer and director. She hosted the “Solution Zone” from 2009 to 2014 on the Progressive Radio Network.

What’s the grossest thing you’ve eaten?

asked at the WaterFall, 134 West seCond st.

Jim Fleming

Data analyst Some of my coworkers went out for sushi. And I’d never eaten sushi, so I didn’t know it was made out of raw fish. They brought back some leftovers, sat it on top of a filing cabinet. … Anyway, two days later, I thought, “I’m going to take a crack at that sushi.”

lyssa WilloughBy

Tech support Probably the fermented duck egg—balut. … It’s not just an egg. It’s half grown duck inside the egg. [It’s from] the Philippines. It’s a delicacy there. We have Asian markets here that will sell it, too, but they have to have a special permit for it, because it can make you really sick.

Jennah Fiedler

Auditor Gross doesn’t necessarily mean you don’t like it, though. I grew up raised by Southern black folks, so we had chitterlings every New Year’s. My grandma lied to me and told me they were noodles. They’re pig intestine.

sam CorBin

Business owner One time I took a girl on a date to sushi, and you know the little orange eggs—the little orange flying fish roe? She had some of those in her mouth, like in her gums and mouth and teeth and stuff, and I ended up with secondhand sushi fish eggs in my mouth.

niCk Josten

Comic I’ve had tons of gross things. I had whale. Yes, when I was living in Japan—chicken hearts, baby squid, raw chicken skin, pregnant fish. Yes, the Japanese teachers liked just giving me really weird crap to try. “Here, Nick, try this.” And I wouldn’t really ask them. I’d just try it.