Does the left in America have the ability to sway public
opinion?
In an article in today’s edition of Salon, writer Heather Digby Parton takes a close look at the Second
Amendment to the Constitution and how it has been interpreted by the courts up
to the present day. The notion of the “right to bear arms” as a fundamental
right protected by the Constitution was only validated by the Supreme Court in
2008. Up to that point, throughout most of our history as a nation, American
courts had rejected that interpretation and almost unanimously agreed the
amendment was referring to a militia member and not the average citizen.
Parton recounts that in 1977, a fringe group within the NRA
began taking control of the organization and eventually changed its focus from
hunting and gun safety to a powerful lobbying group promoting the idea that the
Second Amendment guarantees citizens the right to bear arms. Not only did the
character of the NRA change, but so did the national discussion about gun
ownership to the point where today we have people walking into McDonald’s and
Wal Mart openly carrying weapons as if we live in some sort of dystopian
Zombieland.
The article looks at the power of public opinion, and how
the NRA was able to gain support for its views by changing public opinion and
winning lawmakers to its side. The point is made that if progressives want to fight
this, they too need to sway public opinion. I question whether that’s even an
option.
Today’s media is a corporate-driven enterprise bound to the
bottom line. It is not an arena of free and open discussion. Positions that
corporatists deem dangerous or that might offend large segments of their
audience simply do not get airtime. Gun owners who are members of the NRA or
identify with NRA goals are going to be politically conservative, which usually
translates into pro-business. Progressives, on the other hand, will be critical
of current gun laws and vote for liberals. Who do you think is going to get
their message out on the mainstream media?
This doesn’t just apply to the Second Amendment debate. The rise
and fall of the Occupy movement is a perfect example of a popular uprising
being marginalized and trivialized by the mainstream press. There is a firewall
set up by media corporations that blocks progressive ideas from reaching mass
audiences, making it extremely difficult for progressives to even get their
message out, let alone sway public opinion.
