The Return of the Silent Majority
When Richard Nixon rode atop the curling wave of a new brand of conservatism into the White House in 1968, pundits credited it to a
massive show of support by the nation's middle-class voters. At the time,
many of those people were union members, disaffected by unrest at
home (in some cases, literally in their homes) and the indefinite struggle
in Viet Nam. Most of them weren't students of Neo-Conservative dogma;
they didn't subscribe to New Republic and, even if they tried to absorb the
message, they were hypnotized into a Sunday afternoon doze by William F.
Buckley's obfuscate drone while viewing Firing Line. Still, these voters
became convinced in their minds that change was necessary. Hubert
Humphrey's milquetoast demeanor didn't hurt the Republican cause, nor
did the anti-war riots in Chicago during the Democratic convention. Photo by Henry Gordillo Copyright 2010
The membership at-large predictably ignored the endorsements of Union leadership, at a time when the unions were exhibiting their worst behavior. This was a moment of opportunity, like many in our nation's history, and we all know how it ended … with a clownish victory salute from the boarding platform of Marine One.
Richard Nixon was not a bad man. He was, in many ways, a good president. He was the one
who coined the term "the great Silent Majority" in a televised speech during his first term in
office. The disgraceful end to his administration has undergone some clever revisionist editing,
casting Nixon as a hero for resigning, rather than putting the office of the President of the
United States on trial in the Senate. Many who try to swallow that backwash end up gagging
on it. In truth, if we look at Nixon in depth, at his history fraught with the inconsistencies that
could plague any human being (but magnified by the stage on which he played), it's hard to
fathom how a majority of the electorate chose him as their leader. Twice, no less, though the
George McGovern candidacy challenging a second term resembled a suicide mission from the outset.
It all comes down to the circumstance of the narrowed choice. Vanilla and chocolate are fine flavors, but they merely represent opposite ends of the ice cream spectrum. More than ever, the harsher light and deeper dark overwhelm the pastel shades of opinion. Some of us choose to be politically active. In these times, such choices are both limited and confused. Ask yourself this simple question: Between the overbearing embrace of liberalism and the caustic spittle of conservatism, which side constitutes "revolutionary" as opposed to "reactionary?" To be honest, I can't answer that question. It may be that both sides are reactionary, ensconced in their place and fiercely protecting their turf. As for the rest of us, we're either "wit 'em or agin 'em" in a battle that resembles the most mindless of family feuds. Every November, we are compelled to either make a choice or refuse to participate. The fact is, we're all being had, for there isn't much to choose from.
Consider a different alternative, one in which our dissatisfaction with the system shines through with obvious intent and far-ranging impact. First, perform your civic duty and report to your polling place on Election Day. If you're not yet registered, do so immediately. Sign in, get your ballot (or enter the machine booth) and vote for no one. If there is a referendum or two that you feel strongly about, cast a vote on it, but do not vote for ANY candidate for office. If enough voters do this, the silent protest will have an enormous influence on both major parties, forcing them to moderate party platforms and reconsider their affiliations to extremist factions. Only by our silence will both sides recognize their mistakes. It won't do not to show up; our history as lazy-ass citizens works against us. We must register, we must sign in on the day and we must turn in a blank ballot. When questioned, we must tell election officials that we are not happy with the choices given.
Conservatives killed the unions, and the unions helped them do it. Those men with the American flags on their hard hats are retired, or dead and, let's face it, that bunch wasn't very silent anyway. Liberals have continued to throw public money at their guilt, squeezing blood from an ever-shrinking middle-class. From the point of view of the elected, we're just too stupid to win, let alone compete. Yet, we are not the ones caught between the rock and the hard place. We are the rock. It is up to us, as a new Silent Majority, to present our position and form our will into an extremely hard place.
Abstract Invention by Charlie Accetta is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
