In (dis)information flood we must remain vigilant

Politics: is there no escape? Partisan, divisive commentary now dominates nearly every public space. Politico and C-SPAN has spilled into our recreational outlets, flooding comedy, the arts and social media, drawing a tripwire around family dinners and office water cooler.

There’s a sentiment afoot that everything has simply become too political.

In the four weeks since the muchreferenced crowds gathered on Inauguration Day in the U.S., there has been no public space untainted by the keening wail of grievance from both sides of the spectrum.

Increased civic engagement is undoubtedly positive. But weeks of unceasing indignation and constant vigilance are wearing us down, even in Canada.

Football might seem like neutral ground. But even casual Super Bowl viewers couldn’t miss the proimmigrant ads from Budweiser, Airbnb, Coke and 84 Lumber.

Or take comedy, which is experiencing an unparalleled renaissance under Trump. Saturday

Night Live has become a can’t-miss, propelling Kate McKinnon, Alec Baldwin and Melissa McCarthy to legendary heights.

The prospect of Trump nemesis Rosie O’Donnell suiting up as adviser Steve Bannon has detractors doubled over in anticipation.

Awards shows are yet another platform for protest.

Grammy presenter Jennifer Lopez, not normally a font of political insight, quoted Toni Morrison: “This is precisely the time when artists go to work.”

A Tribe Called Quest galvanized audiences with We the People, before Busta Rhymes signed off: “Thank you, Agent Orange.”

Florence Foster Jenkins may have a real shot at an Oscar, if for no better reason than the Academy wants to hear the next impassioned salvo from Meryl Streep.

Asghar Farhadi, the celebrated Iranian director of The Salesman, has said he will not seek an exemption to Trump’s quashed travel ban; his absence will speak volumes.

Even the dictionary is getting political with its trend watch feature. A spike in searches about the president’s controversial speech at CIA headquarters prompted Merriam-Webster to tweet: “If you’re part of a group that’s paid to applaud, you’re a ‘claqueur.’ ”

When adviser Kellyanne Conway alluded to “alternative facts,” the dictionary responded: “A fact is a piece of information presented as having objective reality.”

Sorting nonsense from reality has become a civic duty exercised on a daily, if not hourly, basis, bogging us down in uncertainty.

If information overload leads to “analysis paralysis,” one can only guess at the crippling effects of disinformation overload.

A survey released this week by Edelman finds Canadians’ trust in institutions is waning, including government, business and media. It suggests Canada is ripe for the antielitist populism sweeping the U.S., U.K. and France.

That discouraging conclusion is supported by some of the rhetoric of the Conservative leadership race, including vitriolic opposition to M-103, a non-binding motion condemning religious discrimination including Islamophobia.

A frenzy of false posturing has positioned the motion as the death of free speech and a foothold for sharia law — notwithstanding the mass shooting at a Quebec City mosque just three weeks ago.

When everything is “too political,” the only reprieve is to unplug: read a book; walk in the forest.

But we cannot renounce our civic obligation to remain vigilant and engaged. Many among us don’t have the privilege of being apolitical.

Resisting discrimination and disinformation has become a matter of survival.

It cannot wait, though we are tired.

Now is precisely the time.