One of the most memorable utterance of an American political leader was said in 1969. The place was Des Moines, Iowa, scene of a Republican fund raising event, and then Vice-President Spiro Agnew quite eloquently claimed about the media: In the United States today, we have more than our share of the nattering nabobs of negativism. They have formed their own 4H Club: the hopeless, hysterical hypochondriacs of history. That phrase struck many Americans as quite accurate, coming in the middle of the Vietnam War, and many Americans felt they were treated with an avalanche of epic negative news.
To be transparent, Agnew’s words were given to him by his speech writer, William Safire. Another phrase was about the press being ‘an effete corps of impudent snobs who characterize themselves as intellectuals’; again, he talked about some newspapers being only good for liners at the bottom of bird cages.
But Agnew’s words live on today. We have a liberal press that seems to disparage any good news, especially if it is about Republican accomplishments. The examples are so many that we wonder if Agnew, from his grave, is not feeling that the 21st century mirrors the ‘nattering nabobs of negativism’ of 1969.
Just the ‘thumbs down’ attitude of liberals and Democrats (but I repeat myself) since the candidacy of Donald Trump in 2015 is evidence of Agnew’s assertion over half a century ago. After applauding his entry into the crowded Republican field for the 2016 Presidential race, when Trump appeared to win the nomination, the negative articles and commentary began to appear in the news media.
Trump was not ‘presidential’, whatever that means, and he had no experience in governing, having never been elected to an office anywhere. His background was discussed at length, including anything that was not so savory. Compared to Hillary Clinton, his adversary in the election, Trump was given the back of the governing elite’s hand.
After winning the election, the negativism continued apace. His policies were going to wreck the economy; Trump was depicted as the enemy of the people of color, his nominees for office were flawed at best, corrupt at worst.
2017’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act was viciously attacked as hurting the middle class and nothing more than a sop to the rich. Even when it turned out to help 90% of the working people, the negative rhetoric about it continued.
The 45th President was subjected to a two-year investigation of his alleged collusion with Russia, and less than 10% or the news reported about him was even remotely positive. Those nattering nabobs were at full tilt. A wall was being built to keep out illegal immigration, but it became an evil act according to the Beltway pundits.
Donald Trump had the privilege of nominating three justices to the Supreme Court, and to listen to those opposed you would think he reached into the lower reaches of Hell to elevate them to the Court. In print and in the televised media all three were savaged, beginning with Neil Gorsuch. But the level of vitriol leveled at Trump and his nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, was unprecedented in U. S. History. Accused of sexual misconduct in his past, Kavanaugh had his sterling character attacked by those ‘nattering nabobs’ as they hurled their negativism at him and the man who nominated him.
Following Kavanaugh was the nomination of an outstanding jurist and person of integrity, Amy Coney Barrett, to the high court. Her faith, her family and her credentials were attacked, as was Trump for selecting her to serve as a justice on the Supreme Court.
The U. S. economy was booming at the start of 2020, with historically low levels of unemployment for African-Americans, Latinos and women, yet the nattering nabobs refused to credit Trump for this accomplishment. When the Abraham Accords were announced, which normalized diplomatic relations between several Middle Eastern nations and Israel, these historic achievements were either ignored or downplayed in print and by TV analysts.
Trump’s goal of energy independence was reached by the encouraging of such projects as the Keystone XL pipeline for oil from Canada and the expanded use of fracking to capture oil and gas not yet tapped was routinely attacked for contributing to a nebulous ‘global warming’ crisis.
Those ‘nattering nabobs of negativism’ had a field day when twice the hyper partisan House of Representatives impeached Trump. Though acquitted both times, press and TV opinion was virtually unanimous in condemning the President.
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Trump was routinely portrayed as not prepared for this (no one else was, either), and incompetent in fighting it. When he announced Operation Warp Speed to get a vaccine to defeat the virus, no one in the commenting class gave him any credit even after three effective vaccines were created.
After a questionable defeat in 2020, the ‘winning’ candidate has taken credit for the creation of the drugs and the rollout to the populous, and the ‘nattering nabobs’ played along, panning Trump and his team’s efforts to combat the deadly disease.
Much more can be brought to light which showed that the mainstream press had very little positive to say about the administration of Donald Trump. Even after his retirement to private life, much of the problems the new administration is having and causing is being laid at the feet of the former chief executive.
If Spiro Agnew were alive today, he would see not much has changed since 1969. For the nattering nabob class, no good deed goes unpunished. His speech would fit well into 2021’s political climate and commentary: In the United States today, we have more than our share of the nattering nabobs of negativism. They have formed their own 4H Club: the hopeless, hysterical hypochondriacs of history.
Truly, they have become those of whom Jeremiah prophesied in Jeremiah 5:21: ‘Hear this now, O foolish people,
Without understanding,
Who have eyes and see not,
And who have ears and hear not: