Done defending a commercial I saw once.

Yet I stand by my own belief that our democracy only functions if we somehow accept a common belief in truth & basic American values.

That is not code for “both sides are at fault.”

That does not mean “let’s excuse white supremacists.”

That does mean, that right now Americans can’t even accept the same empirical truths. That much of the country is driven by delusions and conspiracy theories. We can’t even agree that a free election happened. And inciting an insurrection against Congress is anathema to democracy

I may sound old-fashioned, but I genuinely believe Americans must return to truth over conspiracy. To democracy over authoritarian impulse. To election results over baseless theory. To rule of law over insurrection. Sure it’s naive cuz so many believe the latter. But we need it.

I can’t ascertain what the intent of the ad was. To me, the middle doesn’t involve capitulation to white male straight Christian heartland values, like many are accusing the spot of promoting. To me, the middle is an acceptance that truth is truth, that Covid & science is real.

The fact that nearly half of American doesn’t accept the election results, traffics in conspiracy and opposes the peaceful transfer of power will have dire consequences for our future democracy if not remedied. I will die on this hill.

The two sides of America will never agree on policy, priorities, the role of government etc.

But if we can’t agree on what is truth, on the fact that we are a democracy where electoral results matter & are binding, then we are seriously fucked. And a nation sprinting to decline

My best guess: to ad execs of a certain age/color/gender, Bruce represents an old-fashioned, Eisenhower-era ideal of someone who speaks to the few remaining people in the Center. Maybe to GOP who doesn’t accept QAnon. Just a guess.

I’m sure Springsteen & the ad execs have a blind spot: they still think he speaks for average Americans. When that is no longer a thing and may have never been a thing. But it’s a myth that’s been perpetuated for close to 50 years.