We Have To Be “The Ones”

One of my favorite movies is The Devil’s Advocate (1997) with Al Pacino and Keanu Reeves. Reeves is a hotshot lawyer recruited by a high-powered New York law firm helmed by Pacino, who is, quite literally, Satan. When Reeves asks why the devil is involved in the legal practice, Pacino gives a masterful speech explaining how he uses the cover of law to achieve his evil schemes and ultimately drown any good in the world through sheer frustration and hopelessness.

In recent years, many of us have been repeatedly frustrated with two bulwarks of our democratic society: the law and the press. We awaited proof of Russian election interference via the Mueller Report, only to have then-Attorney General Bill Barr kneecap it. Before Barr could be accurately fact-checked or challenged by the media, the narrative was set that Trump had not been helped by Russia in and that was that.

Currently, Donald Trump claims he should have full immunity from any crime he committed in office, especially in the case of January 6. The argument is ridiculous and a federal appeals court agreed. That should have been the end of it, but now, the Supreme Court has decided to have another look. Legal experts are astonished at their decision. Hearings are set for April, at the very end of their term, which delays other Trump court cases. Considering the serious ethical concerns around SCOTUS right now, their foot dragging (never mind taking up the case in the first place) is not a good look.

Then there’s our media. The days of Cronkite, Murrow, and Rather are long gone, replaced by a bunch of telegenic cosplay “reporters.” The journalistic practice of follow-up questions or fact-checking has been replaced by simply nodding along as their subject talks (or flat out lies) then, “back to the studio.”

Another distressing practice is giving “both sides” of an issue equal time even when one of those sides is clearly undeserving of it. For example, reporting on Trump’s insistence that horse dewormer was an effective treatment for Covid (it wasn’t) was grossly irresponsible and contributed to some deaths.

“Both sides”-ing spreads misinformation and damaging narratives. Journalists may want to seem unbiased, but there are simply some things that don’t deserve amplification. And while there may be a hesitancy to use the word “lie” in a headline, it’s much more apt than the genteel “unintentionally mislead.”

Sometimes, you just gotta say it.

As Americans, we’ve been conditioned to trust in the expertise and ethics of the justice system and our media for some accountability. In recent years, we’ve sadly become disabused of these notions. 

We’re beginning to see that the courts and the press are not going to save us from the dangers of a second Trump presidency. The cavalry isn’t coming. Jimmy Stewart will not save the day with an impassioned speech.

It’s going to have to be up to each of us.

This means using our power as voters. We are -- quite literally -- the only thing standing between democracy and the documented plan to turn us into an autocracy (Project 2025).

Check your voter registration (with ongoing purges of the rolls, you might be unpleasantly surprised on Election Day). If you’re not registered, do it now (it takes less than 3 minutes).

Use your voice. Help friends, family, coworkers get registered. Offer to drive people to the polls. Encourage the “get out the vote” effort by volunteering to phone or text bank, door knock, or write postcards. This year in particular is a numbers game; a Democratic victory will require turnout so large that it can’t be called “rigged.”

Posting overwhelming numbers might also be a not-so-gentle reminder to the justice system and the media that we’re watching.

To paraphrase author Alice Walker, it’s time for us to “be the heroes we’ve been waiting for.”

Cindy Grogan is a writer, lover of history and "Star Trek" (TOS), and hardcore politics junkie. There was that one time she campaigned for Gerald Ford (yikes), but ever since, she's been devoted to Democratic and progressive policies.