SATURDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2024
"There is no cure for human:" Especially since Donald J. Trump's birther days on the Fox News Channel, it has become a basic tenet of modern anthropology:
There is no cure for human.
So the scientists say.
In fact, those birther days extended over a period of several years. Thirteen years after Trump's onslaught started, a second phenomenon has become clear:
Information has (largely) ceased to exist within our failing discourse.
Information plays little role in what's left of our public discourse. At present, it's frequently nothing but Storyline—Storyline all the way down.
It's Storyline all the way down! Or so it seemed on Fox & Friends Weekend as the gang kicked off this morning's program, with Pete Hegseth on the scene in Butler, Pa., site of last month's "miracle."
Credit where due! On this occasion, the trio of friends were not asserting that "our lord and savior, Jesus Christ" saved Candidate Trump that day.
As we noted in this report, that's what the friends persistently said in real time. Just a guess:
Someone on the corporate end may have told them to stop.
At any rate, by 7:05 this morning, Hegseth was describing the "religious sense" on the ground as rally-goers arrived in Butler—the sense that "a miracle" had occurred that day.
Needless to say, rallygoers are free to hold such beliefs. We aren't saying that Hegseth's account of that feeling was inaccurate
That said, it was the interview with Rep. John Moolenaar (R-Michigan) which occasioned anthropologists to restate their dire assessments. Specifically, we refer to the performance by co-host Rachel Campos-Duffy at 6:45 a.m.
First, a word of praise! To our eye and ear, Rep. Moolenaar didn't come across as a propagandist as he spoke with Campos-Duffy today.
He almost seemed like a bit of a throwback. His thumbnail reads like this:
John Moolenaar
John Robert Moolenaar (born May 8, 1961) is an American politician and former chemist serving since 2015 as a U.S. representative from Michigan, representing the state's 2nd congressional district since 2023. A member of the Republican Party, he served in the Michigan House of Representatives from 2003 to 2008 and the Michigan Senate from 2011 to 2014.
Moolenaar was born on May 8, 1961, in Midland, Michigan. His family is of Dutch ancestry. He graduated from Hope College in 1983 with a Bachelor of Science in chemistry. He later earned a Master of Public Administration degree from Harvard University in 1989.
In theory, chemists are required to traffic in facts.
That said, Campos-Duffy isn't a former chemist. When she interviewed Moolenaar, it seemed to us that she was working, live and direct, from approved tribal Storyline.
At present, Moolenaar is chairman of the House Select Committee on Strategic Competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party. In theory, it was in that role that he was being interviewed this day.
First, though, a different point of alleged concern! By now, this matter had been fact-checked within an inch of its life, but Campos-Duffy still didn't seem to have heard.
In the face of the tremendous damage caused by Hurricane Helene, she'd heard that "they" had "raided FEMA!" In fairness, she was just taking a guess!
CAMPOS-DUFFY (10/5/24): Congressman, great to have you here today. So tell us about this money that was spent—I guess they raided FEMA—to give it to illegal immigrants. What do you know about it? What should Americans know about it?
Campos-Duffy was just guessing! She was guessing about the way "they raided FEMA," thereby helping illegal immigrants and undercutting hurricane relief.
Had someone actually "raided FEMA" in the manner described? By now, the claim had been fact-checked within an inch of its life, but it remained a talking-point of the day on this gruesome "cable news" program.
By clicking here, you can see what Rep. Moolenaar calmly and sanely said in response to Campos-Duffy's request. As he spoke, he didn't start churning Storyline—so Campos-Duffy broke in with a second prompt.
In fairness, she was still just guessing:
CAMPOS-DUFFY (interrupting): Yeah but, I guess what I'm asking is, do you have knowledge that FEMA funds were raided in order to give to illegal immigrants?
"I have not seen specific evidence of that," the congressman now said. At that point, Campos-Duffy gave up and moved ahead to a topic involving China.
Had FEMA funds been raided to assist illegal immigrants? As of this morning, the claim had been fact-checked a million times, but it seemed to be one of the mandated points on this "cable news" program.
In fairness, Campos-Duffy was only guessing when she offered Moolenaar his prompts. But even on this religious day, the congressman—a former chemist—failed to perform as desired.
In fairness, there was no talk from the friends this day about the way "our lord and savior" had performed the miracle in Butler. That said, attraction to Storyline on this particular "cable news" program comes close to being a form of religious devotion.
Information is dead, the experts all say. In fairness, devotion to Storyline can also be seen on MSNBC programs, but the impulse is extremely strong on Red America's "cable news" channel.
There is no cure for human, we're persistently told. Also, it's hard to return to information once the critter named Tribal Storyline has arrived on the scene and has taken control.