Where’s the Mainstream?

Navigating the currents of American democracy

Like many, I was shocked and dismayed but not surprised by the news this past week of a Supreme Court out of control. 

First came a series of stories about arguably the most embarrassing justice, Samuel Alito, flying flags over his houses — one an upside-down American flag and the other the so-called “Appeal to Heaven” flag — associated with MAGA zealots like the ones who stormed the Capitol on January 6. 

This was followed by a ruling, written by Justice Alito no less, that essentially allows for racist gerrymandering by state legislatures as long as they use the legalistic fig leaf that it really isn’t about denying Black people equal representation, just Democrats. The majority treats the fact that Black people tend to vote overwhelmingly Democratic happens as an unfortunate detail.

As for the notion that extreme partisan gerrymandering should be anathema to a healthy democratic republic, well, that’s a quaint ideal run over by a bunch of political hacks in black robes who have taken our nation on a reckless joyride down their right-wing avenue of autocracy. 

Reading the copious coverage of the Court and hearing Democratic politicians helplessly searching for a way to apply checks and balances to a branch of government that is profoundly unbalanced and seemingly uncheckable, I find myself wondering about what is considered the mainstream of legal thought these days. 

And that has sent me down a bit of a rabbit hole around notions of “mainstream” more generally. 

The word is everywhere. Those on both sides of the political divide rail against the dangers (real and perceived) of the “mainstream media.” Perhaps not surprisingly, the most frequent use of the word “mainstream” these days is in fact in modifying the word “media.” 

But we also talk about ideas in the mainstream. Or the mainstream of culture, science, and the arts. Loyal fans often despair when they feel their favorite musician has “sold out” by going “mainstream.” And in a very different vein, there’s even the idea of “mainstreaming” —  children with special educational needs getting the support to be in so-called mainstream classes in school.

The etymology of “mainstream” is not that difficult to guess, especially when you break the word into its components: “main” and “stream.” Indeed, it existed as two words for much of its 500-year history. Main stream referred to the primary current of a river, a meaning John Milton employed in Paradise Lost to depict the waters running through the Garden of Eden. The Scottish essayist, historian, and philosopher, Thomas Carlyle, is usually credited as the first to turn “main stream” into a metaphor in an essay from 1832. But its usage didn’t take off until the 1950s when it had been condensed to a single word. 

The fact that mainstream can be used as a noun, an adjective, and a verb and can be considered both laudatory and insulting depending on the context, seems particularly relevant when considering the actions of the Court and the state of American politics more generally. 

Listening to legal scholars this past week, it seems very clear that both the in-your-face-I-don’t-give-a-damn political speech embodied by Alito’s flag antics and the court decision on gerrymandering flies in the face (in one case quite literally) of propriety and responsible behavior of Supreme Court justices. This is the realm of politics and not restrained legal review. In short, this kind of action should not be part of the legal mainstream. 

Then, there are the continued actions of the former president, whom the majority of the Court seems eager to serve. His continued lies about stolen elections, even as he runs for re-election, are mimicked by his toadies in Congress (whose own elections were apparently kosher enough for them to take office). As the outrages mount and craven cowards like Nikki Haley fall in line, sentiments and actions that once were so far out of the mainstream of accepted politics that we couldn’t even imagine them are now fueling the currents of the MAGA movement. 

“Election deniers moving closer to GOP mainstream, report shows, as Trump allies fill Congress,” read a recent headline from ABC News. 

“This is not who we are,” Joe Biden wrote on Facebook back in 2018 in response to the horrific news that children were being separated from their parents at border detention centers. The basic idea behind Biden’s criticism back then was clear, which he has echoed countless times since. What Trump embodies does not reflect mainstream America. And that is undoubtedly true about the former president and the party he leads when you break down the polling on issues like abortion, contraception, gun restrictions, the environment, Social Security, support for unions, and on and on. 

And then there is Trump’s behavior. His bullying, name-calling, and incitement of violence would get most people fired from their jobs. Again, out of the mainstream. 

So what are we to make of the fact that Trump can be re-elected, that the Supreme Court is full of reactionary fanatics, and Congress isn't acting on the will of the American people? For starters, we have a political system that acts like a dam, blocking the “main stream” of where this country is today. Let's consider the makeup of the Senate and the filibuster, the Electoral College, and the courts; all are institutions that currently prevent the free-flowing of democracy.

As the waters rise and the pressure mounts, it’s unclear where the breakthroughs or breakdowns will occur. Or perhaps the anti-majority structures are strong enough to hold. 

But this system is also a product of our past. It serves people who want to keep living in what used to be the American mainstream. Our demographics are changing rapidly, but there was a time not that long ago when the vast majority of American society was white and Christian. There was a time when being LGBTQ+ was considered by a majority to be morally reprehensible. When it was okay to deny Black people the right to vote, or even freedom. When it was acceptable to pump pollution into the atmosphere. When striking workers were beaten by thugs hired by those in power. 

Mainstreams, like the rivers of thought that propel them, can change. As the saying goes, you can’t step into the same river twice. The forces of nature and humanity produce constant variation. 

There are ample reasons to fear that Trump is changing the mainstream of America as he has already changed the mainstream of the Republican Party. What was once abhorrent is now accepted, infecting the country at large. But pushing in the other direction is a very different current. One of progress and decency.

Like raging rivers after a storm, these torrents of water will collide in November and forge a new mainstream that will define the nation for generations to come.