Observations of a changing political atmosphere

To my readers who may not be athletic or interested in sports, I apologize to you for my incoming analogies which may be lacking in relevance to you. For the rest of you, have you ever noticed how you must change the way you maneuver when you play on a different court or field? For those who have ever played tennis, football or volleyball, you are probably saying to yourself right now, “Yes, idiot. That’s obvious.” Right now, I’m also telling myself that same message because, at least instinctively, you’d catch me dead before you’d catch me taking a charge on a concrete basketball court.

What I want to focus on here is instinct. We — as sports fans and players — adjust to different environments through some inexplicable, visceral understanding of muscle memory, yet we — also as participants of society — seem oddly and continually surprised about the political atmosphere we must currently traverse. It’s as if we have been taking charge this whole time and wonder why the “gym” floor has cut us up so much. I’d like to point out a few observations I’ve noticed through reflection and from the sagacity I’ve gained by suffering scars of surprise from this new political era.

Fox News Channel is no longer monolithically the head of Republican ideology. For as deep as the chasm of my memory reaches, Fox News has been a relay network for Republican pundits: passing along idea after idea on their individual talk shows reinforcing a manner of ideas Republican politicians across the board mimicked. This by no means makes Fox News partisan towards Republicans (I am neither defending nor advocating for Fox News) because that line will always remain nebulous, but I’d vouch that Republicanism matched Fox News’ ideologies — at least this used to be the case. For lack of space, I can only provide one example, but I hope it’s sufficient enough: the issue of Social Security.

Prior to President Donald Trump, there hasn’t been a Republican politician who has outright stated or even had the intent to leave Social Security as is. Traditionally, according to Politico (and really just history) most Republicans would follow a neo-Reaganite set of policies that are, according to Politico, a “synthesis of support for a hawkish foreign policy, social conservatism, and cuts in middle-class entitlements to finance further tax cuts for the rich.” Trump may follow a few of these ideas, but he outright declared his “absolute intention to leave Social Security the way it is,” during his campaign. Consequently, Mother Jones reports Trump’s Social Security team has the intention to increase the retirement age, reduce benefits and a few other things. Either way, he’s one of only few Republicans to ever say he plans to keep Social Security the way it is.

The craziest thing about this political paradigm shift isn’t just Trump. The most baffling aspect about these incongruent and seemingly vagrant shifts is that they’re happening on both sides of the spectrum. Trump’s incorrigibility, his appearance of not being “swamp-like,” an emboldening supporter base that clouds discrimination as nationalism and how he acts and speaks is something unlike ever seen before in a “politician.” A comparison of Bernie Sanders to Hillary Clinton nets the same results. Clinton in every regard is the typical Wall-Street-esque, shady old white male politician — except for being male — and Sanders is an avowed socialist who begs citizens to protest for what they believe in (we miss you, Bernie).

I may be banal in saying what has already been said many times over, but the terrain is changing. Make sure you’re ready for it.

James Hardison is a UF English sophomore. His column appears on Tuesdays.