To expose Bannon’s ideas, let him debate them
In recent public events, Stephen K. Bannon has attracted crowds that could easily fit inside a walk-in closet.
Earlier this month in Staten Island, N.Y., 38 presumed insomniacs attended a screening of his latest agitprop, Trump @ War.
This week, inside a Holiday Inn, 25 presumed Groupon junkies in Kansas patiently endured a political rally in which Bannon exuded the charisma, raw energy and motivational sway of a three-toed sloth.
By his own account, it is not unusual for Bannon to now address crowds that can be counted by toddlers using both their hands.
Think about that for a minute: Bannon is now willing to speak to an audience smaller than 10.
On any given morning, more people watch Kim Kardashian eat breakfast.
It’s odd. When Bannon served as chief strategist to Donald Trump, when he was a disheveled bogeyman to liberals and fear-inspiring Time magazine covers and Grim Reaper parodies on Saturday Night Live, the man seemed capable of filling Madison Square Garden five times over.
But the longer he pirouettes in public view, the more his influence wanes. As it turns out, no one is doing a better job of discrediting Bannon’s fever dreams than Bannon himself.
So I’m baffled by the reaction of some Canadian politicians, community
leaders and commentators, who are now calling for Friday’s Munk Debate to be scrapped.
At that event, inside Toronto’s Roy Thomson Hall, Bannon will verbally joust with David Frum, the conservative author and former speechwriter for George W. Bush.
Bannon will argue in favour of “nationalism,” the amorphous bedrock of his economic and political philosophy. Frum will argue against.
This promises to be a spirited debate, and one that is timely.
When you examine political developments across the world, from Italy to Brazil, ignoring the rise of right-wing populism seems about as wise as skinny-dipping in a shark tank. We should be debating nationalism every week.
But as the Star’s Jenny Yang reported: “The event has drawn protests since it was first announced in September, shortly after Bannon was dropped by the New Yorker Festival amid fierce public backlash. But opposition to the Munk Debate has intensified in the wake of Saturday’s deadly synagogue shooting in Pittsburgh, with federal and provincial NDP politicians now decrying Bannon’s appearance …”
It’s an interesting predicament. There is no doubt Bannon espouses ideas that are offensive, if not outright dangerous. His glib pull-quote on the Munk Debate website — “I want to bring everything crashing down and destroy all of today’s establishment” — betrays an immature mind, one that is more nihilistic than patriotic, more petulant than penetrating, more conspiratorial than levelheaded.
It also exposes a battered soul that is lacquered with laughable hypocrisy.
From investment banking to Hollywood residuals, from gaming to media, Bannon made his fortune as part of the establishment.
Most of the mythical “elites” he rails against are relative paupers compared to his rare Bordeaux and five-star hotel lifestyle.
Bannon accrued his wealth and power as a globalist. Now he’s pushing the tenets of nationalism? Right. That’s like Steph Curry violently objecting to three-pointers.
So with respect to the NDP and the social media mobs forever eager to silence any views with which they disagree, the only people who should be protesting Friday’s debate are the ones who actually buy what Bannon is still trying to sell.
If you really hate what this guy is saying, you should encourage him to keep saying it, because every time he says it, fewer and fewer people listen. Let him babble on about tariffs or immigration or The Fourth Turning and watch as even the biggest Trump superfans doze off into a coma.
Even populist politicians are increasingly treating Bannon like he has the cooties. In ever expanding circles, he’s seen as radioactive, as a messaging liability, as a cancer on his own movement. Those who are now demanding Munk organizers pull the plug on Friday’s event — and kudos to organizers for standing firm — also do not seem to understand the concept of debate, the value of free speech and the importance of hashing out disagreements. As Hubert H. Humphrey once observed: “Freedom is hammered out on the anvil of discussion, dissent and debate.”
Bannon is not giving a paid speech on our public airwaves. He will be facing off with Frum, a policy wonk who routinely delivers devastating criticisms of the Trump administration and, by extension, Bannon’s abiding worldview. If anything, we should pity Bannon for the way in which he will be savaged on Canadian soil.
As Frum posted on Twitter: “Liberal democracy is founded on the belief that free people can be inspired to make wiser choices by words and ideas. Mr. Bannon comes to the prestigious Munk platform because he believes his words can persuade people to follow him. I will face him there because I believe democratic ideas can defeat him.”
We need to share in this belief, now more than ever.