The Repetition Racket

Republicans have chanced upon a remarkably efficient method of persuasion: repeat a word or phrase so relentlessly that it acquires the appearance of truth, or at least the tantalizing aroma of scandal. Repetition substitutes for revelation; the slogan stands in for the evidence that never arrives.

Consider the mystifying saga of “her emails.” One of the most consequential political chants in modern history — chanted with zeal, amplified daily on the morning shows, and never once connected to a specific transgression. Not a single communiqué held up to the light. Not a single explanation for why the fate of the Republic hinged on a server. Yet the words themselves — three modest syllables — proved heavy enough to tilt an election. Donald Trump committed more ethical infractions between lunch and dessert than those emails were ever alleged to contain.

The sequel, “Hunter Biden,” lacked even the pretense of national importance. The business misadventures of a President’s adult son — a common hobby among First Families since the Republic’s founding — were elevated to a matter of existential peril. Never mind that the period in question preceded Biden’s ascension to office. They had a name, and a drum to pound, and they pounded it.

Now, in Trump’s second term, the slogans have multiplied like rabbits in a populist meadow. We are told: “Eight wars solved,” “Prices are down,” “The country is doing great,” and the mathematically breathtaking “20 million illegals arrived under Biden.” The claims require no grounding in fact. Their purpose is not to be believed — only repeated.

One is tempted to indict the media. Walter Cronkite would not, I suspect, have sacrificed serious journalism to chase the specter of a politician’s email stationery. But the press is no longer a gatekeeper; it is a contestant in a shouting match.

And what of the voter? The cynic declares him gullible; the democrat refuses to despair. We cannot surrender the electorate to the tyranny of the tag line. We must insist upon context, upon proportion, upon truth! We must out-argue and out-inform those who would out-chant us.

Repetition is a powerful instrument — in the wrong hands, a cudgel. In the right ones, a reminder:

A Republic does not perish when liars lie.
It perishes when listeners cease to ask,
“What, exactly, do you mean by that?”