SUMMER RE-RUNS
This is a revision of something I posted in mid-November about Trump’s rhetoric of disinformation. In recent days, both Matthew Yglesias in Vox and David Leonhardt in a May 31 New York Times editorial have published articles which frame Trump’s rhetorical style in terms of lies vs. bullshit.
Both men build on a distinction made originally by Princeton Professor Harry Frankfurt in 2005 in an essay entitled “On Bullshit” (link below). Frankfurt says that the Liar is genuinely trying to deceive you, while the Bullshitter is trying to dominate you. The Bullshitter says, in effect, “Who are you going to believe – me or your lying eyes?” A great example of Trump as Bullshitter happened within 24 hours of his inauguration, when he claimed that his inaugural crowd was bigger than Obama’s, despite photographs that clearly show otherwise.
Accepting Trump’s bullshit becomes a test of loyalty. It’s why Trump demands that his spokesmen aggressively defend every statement he makes, no matter how ridiculous. It also functions as a rite of passage, an initiation into the cult of true believers. It’s a way to drink the Kool Aid without actually dying. Or without dying physically, at least. Your spirit dies pretty quickly, as Sean Spicer can attest.
This model also helps explain why there’s no point in arguing with hardcore Trumpers. They don’t care about facts. If you disagree with them, you’re threatening their status in the cult. If they admit they’re wrong, their entire world view collapses.
With that as an introduction, here is an updated version of what I wrote last November 16, eight days after the election.
AGAINST MY BETTER JUDGMENT, I recently entered into a brief dialog with a Trump fan. He made an assertion, which I quickly found evidence to refute, and his response was to say my evidence didn’t matter. The topic of our short debate isn’t important, since the outcome would have been similar no matter what we were arguing about.
That exchange reminded me of something I’d been thinking since summer. There are many valid ways we could describe the gap between Trump people and anti-Trump people. It is certainly based in part on race and ethnicity. It is based in part on gender issues, on generational divisions, on differences in education, and so forth. All of those factors, and more, are important.
But I’m beginning to believe that the most dangerous gap between us and them is a reality gap. Trump supporters and Trump foes live in separate realities. We look at the same phenomena and see vastly different things. We struggle to debate or negotiate because even though we’re using the same words, we aren’t speaking the same language.
There’s a multi-billion dollar Republican disinformation industry led by Fox News, talk radio, etc., which promote rumors and innuendo they know to be false. Winston Churchill said it: "A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on." And by that time, there’s a new lie out the door and into the world.
We can describe that process, document it extensively, and call out the liars. But that’s not the point. That’s like bringing fact checkers to a knife fight.
What I want everyone to understand is that this is a deliberate strategy on the part of Donald Trump and his henchmen. They use incoherence as a weapon. They are trying to confuse people. And not just their enemies. When people are confused, they’ll stop thinking and revert to trusting in their strong leader. “We may be confused, but Donald J. Trump isn’t confused. Donald J. Trump will fix it. Just get out of the way and let him make America great again.”
One term to describe this process is “gaslighting.” It’s a tactic that is well known to those who treat victims of abuse, and it’s no accident that Trump and some of his cronies have abusive personalities. They will keep lying to you until you begin to wonder if maybe you’re the one that’s crazy. You are NOT crazy. Please keep that in mind.
I’M POSTING THIS UPDATE on June 1. Six months into the Trump regime, there’s good news. First, everyone took my advice. Trump’s gaslighting hasn’t worked. We know that Trump is crazy, not us.
What’s more, the press has also figured this out. Calling Trump a Bullshitter (or B.S.er as they put it) would have been unthinkable for the New York Times six months ago. Now the Times and other major print and cable news organizations routinely point out Trump’s contradictions, unsubstantiated assertions, and flat out lies.
At a party this weekend, a friend remarked that this summer was going to be a lot like the summer of 1974, when we watched Richard Nixon’s presidency come apart as the Watergate scandal unraveled. The process began slowly, as Nixon’s defenders circled the wagons. But the revelations kept coming, and the defenders had to retreat to a new and shakier fallback position every week. Finally, the house of cards collapsed.
Because Trump is basically a one trick pony, his only response to the #TrumpRussia investigations that are closing in on him is to double down on bullshit. He’ll blame his troubles on fake news and Deep State sabotage. It won’t work. Our national bullshit detector has passed its test, and we’re past the point of no return.
I don’t know what the endgame will be. I’m still not optimistic about impeachment, because that would require the corrupt Republican Party to act in the national interest. But Jesus said (John 8:32), “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” I’m confident that we’ll come out of this process with the truth about #TrumpRussia. What we do with that truth is up to us.