NYT Opinion Editor: Couldn’t Help Worrying ‘For Our Democracy’ After Hearing Conservative Men

The New York Times reported on a political focus group and came back scared for democracy: “These 8 Conservative Men Are Making No Apologies.”

What precisely would the “conservative men” have to apologize for? It’s not made clear. Adrian Rivera and Patrick Healy, Deputy Opinion Editors, praised them in the first sentence. Then, they added a comment about their fear for democracy, which was combined with the headline that suggests conservative men were the villain.

There was no talk of a stolen election, no conspiracy theories about voter fraud or rants about President Biden’s legitimacy. Yet listening to our 90-minute focus group with eight conservative men, you couldn’t help but worry for our democracy a bit.

The men didn’t see themselves fitting into American society today. They didn’t feel free to be themselves in the culture. Seven in ten said that they felt foreign to their home country. These Americans felt so disunited from America at a time in which democracy institutions are under strain and even being attacked.

….Most said they believed society is headed toward increased rule breaking and a “me, me, me” culture. Kristen Soltis Anderson was stunned by the amount of people using poor road manners to illustrate societal decline.

Healy did something similar earlier this year on the first anniversary of the January 6 Capitol Hill riots, with one focus group composed of Democrats “‘We Barely Qualify as a Democracy Anymore’: Democratic Voters Fear for America.” and one of Republicans. Healy remained neutral and avoided the questions, although his first question to assembled Democrats was quite a bit.

Is Jan. 6 an important date in American history right now? A date like 9/11 can also be used to denote a particular terrible event. Or Pearl Harbor. What’s the difference?

You can’t condemn the horrible events that occurred on January 6th without considering the atrocities committed in two wars, where death was high and lasted for many years.

Healy posed a nearly identical first question to the Republican group, a conversation that appeared under a more critical headline, “Why Republican Voters Think Americans Have to Get Over Jan. 6.”

What do you consider Jan. 6 to be in American history? You can think of other significant events such as September 11, Pearl Harbor, which are also important in American history.

Healy was a bit too involved in a conservative group meeting on May 20, 21. He kept interrupting the conversation and couldn’t stop correcting Republican lies.

….several made false claims, including that the election was stolen and that Black Lives Matter is a Marxist or violent hate group. Although many expressed disapproval of the news media, some were clearly influenced: Many kept upstating scattered violence in the streets that occurred last summer by Fox News and the other popular news outlets.