Local Opinion: Trump wasn't only motivating force in Capitol riot

Recently, James Sasso, an investigator for the House Jan. 6 Committee, claimed in a newspaper column that Donald Trump, former president of the United States, was not the only culprit responsible for the insurrection.

Secondarily, was how the mob felt that the federal government was working against them; that it was controlled by liberal elites who did not embody their way of life and wanted to destroy the little power they felt they had.

He wrote about how ordinary people, not political extremists or activists were involved. A grandmother, a painter, and a minister. Just folks. They felt like they were left behind and wanted to make a statement. And they were proud to have participated. Basically, they had “lost trust.” End of story.

What he didn’t tell you was why they felt diminished, weak, and unimportant. Let me explain my theory.

For years, decades now, they had been convinced it was true by people who became multi-millionaires in selling that message.

It all started with Rush Limbaugh. A mere 15 hours a week on AM radio and he had struck gold. Millions of listeners and millions of dollars flowed his way as he told the story of how liberals were destroying the country that they loved.

Others jumped on the money train. Hannity, Levin, Savage, Beck, Jones. Many local right-wing guys, too. What once was one guy with 15 hours a week became whole radio stations, 24 hours a day spewing the same rhetoric. Then TV added sight, color, and motion to the message with Fox News, Newsmax, OANN. Plus hundreds, make that thousands, of websites proclaiming basically, “You are being screwed by those people.”

The people listened, watched and read and it worked. Why wouldn’t it? This is the American way, capitalism at its finest. While others sold anti-dandruff shampoo, aspirin, and breakfast cereal via mass media, these new hucksters sold ideas, much of it hate. It worked.

Why do I know the power of media? I spent 50 years in broadcasting, marketing and advertising. Give me 30 seconds and I can get somebody to grab a can of soup off the shelf next time they go to the store.

But this was even more powerful than just a brief commercial. These were real live programs with hours of explanations and examples of “how bad things were,” “how they were being cheated,” and “who these evil-doers were.” Not that any of it was true. It didn’t matter, these were all opinions. Freedom of speech and all that. Truth was not a factor. That was not the point. The point was charging up the folks with anger, so they would listen/watch again tomorrow. So ratings would stay up. The higher the anger, the higher the ratings, and the higher the revenue and profit.

Now imagine if you had multiple spokespeople, strong persuaders, delivering the same message, day after day for over 20 years. Imagine an audience giving their attention to these people for an average of two to six hours a day. And they were not selling soup. They were selling the idea that the federal government was against them, that the “Godless” liberals had done damage and would do even more unless they were stopped. The folks bought the product.

It culminated in the Capitol riot of Jan. 6, 2021. It was the ultimate sale. After years of hearing these messages, some consumers finally took action in the presence of their ultimate number one salesman and heard the final pitch from America’s greatest huckster, one President Donald J. Trump.

Yes, he alone was not the culprit. He was preceded by a phalanx of self-made politico-celebrities presenting the same message over and over again and getting rich doing it. God bless capitalism. God bless America.