Spotlight PA is offering Pennsylvania voters tools for dealing with the “silly season” of political attack ads and disinformation campaigns. Don’t give up. Here’s are practical resources to see through the fog.
Vote for Democracy
If you are a Republican, you probably are dismissing headlines like this as political hype. Think again. There is a long list of level-headed history-aware journalists who don’t think it is any exaggeration. Years ago, more than half a century ago, I was a wannabe engineer. Many people joked about the lack of basic liberal arts education, the norm for technical degrees. “Four years ago I couldn’t spell enjuneer and now I are one!” It was a funny gag because it was partly true. Today, it’s not just engineers; most adults have never taken a civics course. Many would have a hard time explaining the differences between a socialist, a fascist, and a communist.
Our media are intimidated by the fear that bold attacks on anti-democracy movements will cause them to loose both advertisers and subscribers. The proliferation of high quality journalism on Substack and other subscriber supported digital media reflects the reality that advertising funded media is struggling to be objective and bold.
David Kurtz’s Talking Point Memo should be on your regular reading list if it isn’t already. Here’s a sample.
Killer Mendacity
As Hurricane Milton bears down on Tampa Bay and central Florida, those who know are urging people to evacuate to safety. But Florida has been pickled in politically motivated misinformation (intentional lies) for years. Consequently, there are many people who distrust the advice they are receiving. They have believed for some time that climate change is a hoax and that the warnings are hyped up. Some of them will die.
Reality is cruel when denied. During the COVID-19 crisis, many in Florida believed that the rules established to reduce contagion (masks, social distancing, avoiding crowded venues) were all part of an elaborate hoax. In Key West, a respected local politician lost his wife and daughter to COVID after they attended a crowded victory celebration when he was elected to office. Arguably, they died because of willful ignorance and/or misinformation about the risks.
Satistical analysis of mortality among progressives versus conservatives during COVID resulted in estimates that a hundred-thousand more conservatives died, presumably because they scorned masks and vaccines.
Will there be an awakening? Frankly, I doubt it. The right avoids admitting its mistakes. And when it does see the error of its ways, it changes course without acknowledging that anything was learned.
Heather Cox Richardson, ever the historian, documents the evolving tragedy of pernicious mendacity.
Democracy, Rule of Law, and Reality
Lee Atwater spent his last days repenting for the damage he did as a political hit man. He often proclaimed that perception was reality. He meant that if he made the public believe something, the truth wouldn’t matter. People act on their beliefs as if they are reality. This precept has increased in dominance in the GOP political strategy. The GOP believes it so ardently that they feel no shame in publicly admitting it. Indeed, Vance cried foul when the debate moderator fact-checked him. He also dodged the question of whether Donald Trump won the 2020 election. (To answer in the affirmative is a test of solidarity with the party.)
Huge amounts of money are in play in the effort to prosecute crimes motivated by the political lie that the election was stolen. The January 6th riot cost the lives of more than four people, and injured more than 200 of those who defended the Capitol. The GOP’s political orthodoxy is looking more like a cult and less like loyal opposition with each day of the campaign.
In addition, to the vast waste of time and treasure, there is moral injury of epic proportions. More than a third of the adult US Population is in deep denial about what has happened to them personally and to their friends, and their spiritual leaders.
Truth will out. The test of our beliefs is utility; our collisions with reality are often epic fails.
Emergency Management
Communities led by effective people prepare in advance for emergencies by having the people and materials ready to respond. When an emergency happens, there is an organized response. Once the most urgent needs are met, the recovery phase kicks in to get the community back on its feet. These three phases of activity are the essence of emergency management.
Across the US, towns large and small have fire departments, ambulance corps, and police units that are committed to being prepared to respond rapidly. They spend many hours training, executing simulations, and keeping equipment response ready. All of this is systematic, much of it is part of the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s comprehensive standards and best practices.
But all of that readiness can be sabotaged by elected officials who fail to act, or who seek to economize inappropriately. Much of the City of Cape May, NJ burned to the ground not once, but twice for this reason. In the current Hurricane Helene emergency, Tennessee governor Bill Lee, a Republican, deferred declaring an emergency, instead proclaiming September 27 a “voluntary Day of Prayer and Fasting.”
Quoting Heather Cox Richardson, “Observers pointed out that with people stuck on a hospital roof in the midst of catastrophic flooding in his state, maybe an emergency declaration would be more on point. . . .
“The federal government’s efficient organization of responses to natural disasters illustrates that as citizens of a republic, we are part of a larger community that responds to our needs in times of crisis.
“But that system is currently under attack. Project 2025, a playbook for the next Republican administration, authored by allies of the right-wing Heritage Foundation and closely associated with Republican presidential candidate Trump and vice presidential candidate Ohio senator J.D. Vance, calls for slashing FEMA’s budget and returning disaster responses to states and localities.”
Politics matters. We do best by serving the common good through good government and pooling our resources. The rugged independence and individualism of Ayn Rand was dead wrong.
Dire Warnings
I think of the New York Times and the Washington Post as media leaders with journalistic integrity. Talking Points Memo is one of the leaders in independent, reader-funded media. Today, both of these sources warn that Donald Trump is a danger to America and the world.
Let that sink in. It’s not political rhetoric; the Times quotes no less than 91 individuals who know Trump well from working with him. If you have been dismissing the negative press about Trump as political noise, I beg you to read the materials linked below. We must end Trump’s cult before it destroys all that we hold dear.
Trump’s Military-Fantasy Complex
In a series of three posts over the past month, TPM’s Josh Kovensky has been unpacking the many disturbing elements of the emerging Trump II plan to harness the military for its own political ends in ways that are outside the bounds of American tradition and may be outside the law.
David Kurtz – Talking Points Memo
Candidate Contrasts
“Everything Trump has proposed would make the economy worse.” It’s not just the idea of steep tariffs on imports. Trump insists tariffs are paid by the seller, but they aren’t. When you buy a product from China, the importer pays a duty that he includes in the retail price the item sells here in the US. We pay the higher price, not the maker in China. Higher prices reduce demand, so China sells less product and suffers lost profits.
Critical thinkers continue to be baffled by the loyalty of Trump followers to their leader. Despite unpopular policy, lies, and frauds, they prefer him to any Democrat. Here are a couple of lists of issues that compare the positions of candidates. Circle the positions you agree with and see which candidate is like-minded with your views and values.
Did these lists miss important issues? Comment below.
Too Much “News” – Too Little Time?
One of the frustrations we all face is keeping up with the news. It’s like drinking from a fire hose. As election day approaches, the intensity grows with so many shrill voices competing for our attention. The temptation is to shut it all down.
Here is my suggestion: Find minds that you trust. There are journalists who dedicate their full time to understanding the news and who are honest brokers of the information you want but don’t have the time to ferret out for yourself. Read them first. Learn to scan. Learn healthy skepticism.
Here is my list of credible voices:
- Heather Cox Richardson – Letters from an American
- Doug Muder – Weekly Sift
- Judd Legum – Popular Information
- David Kurtz – Talking Points Memo
I subscribe to the Washington Post, New York Times, Philadelphia Inquirer, The Guardian, Courier Times, New Yorker, and Atlantic. I read very selectively. I do not watch TV news because I can’t scan and skip. It’s too easy to mindlessly take in information that has been sanitized or sanewashed.
Here is an excerpt from *Credible?*, my book on how to know what’s authentic in the media. It describes how you can hone your sensitivity to propaganda and recognize when you should be skeptical.
What’s So, and What’s Not?
I’ve mentioned this before, and as the deluge of misinformation escalates, it’s time to repeat it. There are good ways to train yourself to recognize what true and what’s not.
GSAN: Pet rumors debunked | Bursting online bubbles
Social media warning labels demanded by attorneys general from 42 states, how extremists use social media, and Springfield, Ohio rumors debunked.
Our advertising-supported media must avoid offending their extremist readers lest they lose readers. Consequently, news reporting tries to balance the criticism they level on both sides. The competition for prime media space is not symmetrical. If you are unfettered by scruples, you are free to say whatever works to dominate the news cycle, even if it is clearly nonsense. Only so much information fits above the fold on the paper or into the politics segment of the evening cable news.
If one side launches something outrageous to the other, everyone covers it, regardless of merit. As a progressive, I assert that there is so much genuinely negative, truthful news about former President Donald Trump that his handlers and his propaganda machine must manufacture distracting information to displace the steady flow of scandelous reality. So we get these stories Vance has made up about immigrants eating pets. This fills space that might otherwise be devoted to reporting about DJT’s mental lapses, suspected affairs, failed legal moves, etc. Amazingly, he can even admit to lying, justifying himself doing so on the basis that he had to dupe the mainstream media into covering the southern border crossings issue.
Low-information voters succumb to confirmation bias. They believe that the other side is more evil than their own candidate. They excuse his plans to cheat because they believe that the opposition is cheating. Fight fire with fire, they say. The misinformation bubble is tough to burst. Subscribe to Get Smart About News.
Primer for Debate
Tuesday night Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are scheduled to debate. Both are being prepared like prize fighters before a big bout. Both are skilled in public argument, Kamala as a lawyer and prosecutor, Trump as a negotiator and showman.
Susan Mehrtens and I wrote a book on how to know what is credible and what is not by recognizing the style and techniques used to manipulate our perception. The concluding chapter presents the “Mendacity Playbook,” where we expose deceptive tricks the candidates may use. Read this now so you appreciate the nuances of the game being played.
Reprinted from the book *Credible?* by Richmond Shreve and Susan Mhertens, Ph.D.
