AMERICAN (COGNITIVE) CARNAGE: His Cousin Rudy seemed underinformed!

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 2020

Attention C-Span callers!: How dumb can our public discourse get?

It can get extremely dumb. You might even say it resembles the "world's dumbest" possible discourse, with apologies to the wonderful basic cable programming which carries that very name.

"Nothing gold can stay," Frost once alleged—but the dumbness tends to stick around. Indeed, the dumbness tends to spread. Consider what Rudy Giuliani said, right at the start of last Thursday's so-called "mascara dump:"

GIULIANI (11/19/20): Well, this is representative of our legal team. We’re representing President Trump and we’re representing the Trump campaign. When I finish, Sidney Powell and then Jenna Ellis will follow me. And we will present in brief the evidence that we’ve collected over the last, I guess it is two weeks. Also, Joseph diGenova, Victoria Toensing are here with me. There are a lot more lawyers working on this, but I guess, we’re the senior lawyers. And Boris Epshteyn.

So I guess the best way to describe this is, when we began our representation of the president, we certainly were confronted with a very anomalous set of results. The president way ahead on election night, seven or 800,000 in Pennsylvania. Somehow, he lost Pennsylvania. 

We have statisticians willing to testify that that’s almost statistically impossible to have happened in the period of time that it happened. But of course, that’s just speculation.

"That’s just speculation," the barrister said. For transcript and tape, click here, thanks of course to Rev.

In fairness, everything's (technically) possible. You can of course imagine an election in which Candidate A emerges with a large lead, only to have minions from Candidate B introduce a vast number of fraudulent ballots.

As he continued, Giuliani quickly suggested that something like that had taken place in other states, not just in Pennsylvania. 

"This pattern repeats itself in a number of states," the barrister thoughtfully said. "Almost exactly the same pattern, which to any experienced investigator, prosecutor would suggest that there was a plan from a centralized place to execute these various acts of voter fraud."

Needless to say, election fraud has occurred in the past. It happens all over the globe. 

In theory, it could have happened in Pennsylvania. It's just that Giuliani and the rest of the gang never produced any credible evidence to show or suggest that it had.

As far as we know, the statisticians were never produced. Soon, the barrister Powell was making claims which may have been even crazier, hard as they were to summarize, parse or follow.

How dumb can our public discourse get? It can get this dumb:

The pattern Giuliani described had been widely pre-explained. The explanation made perfect sense. 

The explanation had been offered, in advance, again and again and again. It wasn't especially hard to follow. The perfectly logical pre-explanation had gone something like this:

In states like Pennsylvania, Biden voters had been much more likely to vote by mail. In large part due to Trump's Covid denial importunings, Trump voters had been much more likely to vote in person on November 3.

Also this:

The Republican legislature of Pennsylvania had refused to let the state's election officials count mail ballots as they arrived. This meant that November 3's in-person votes would be counted and reported first. 

This would produce an early lead for Trump. This lead would dissipate, to whatever extent,  as the mail ballots were counted later.

This pre-explanation had been offered about a million times. Amazingly, the fellow now known as "His Cousin Rudy" didn't seem to have heard it!

Even as late as November 19, why was Giuliani still  unaware of this rather obvious explanation? Almost surely, he'd spent too much time listening to C-Span callers!

Consider:

On Sunday morning, November 15, Bill Scanlan had been in the saddle at C-Span's Washington Journal. During the 7 A.M. hour, he'd fielded calls from the program's famously well-informed viewers.

(Full disclosure: In 1999 and 2000, we guested on Washington Journal three times. On two of these occasions, we were hosted by Brian Lamb. We regard this as an honor.) 

At 7:39 AM, it finally happened. Calling on the Democrats line, John from Pennsylvania angrily weighed in.

Eventually, John explained what had happened in his state. We'd have to guess that Giuliani may have been listening in.

John from Pennsylvania went on at length this day. To review the tape, click here. 

"When have we ever had to wait this long to find the results of an election?" he agonizingly asked, early on. Eventually, this exchange occurred:

SCANLAN (11/15/20): What have the investigations yielded so far in Pennsylvania on allegations of dead people voting, things like that? Has that turned any votes for the president?

JOHN: Here's the thing. We were winning Pennsylvania Wednesday morning, OK?  After the election. He was up by almost 700,000 votes. Can you tell me how they erased 700,000 votes legitimately, OK? 

At this point, John voiced a complaint about CNN's Christiane Amanpour. But the damage had already been done.

How dumb can our public discourse get? It can get prehistorically dumb. 

It seemed that John had never heard the perfectly sensible pre-explanation concerning the way his state's vote totals were going to change as ballots kept being counted. Nor did Scanlan mention this point. As a general matter, C-Span lets us the people speak without fear of correction or comment.

How dumb can our discourse get? It seemed that John had never heard the perfectly plausible pre-explanation for the melting away of Donald J. Trump's early lead.

He also received no critique from Scanlan. Instead, Scanlan turned to Dwight from Pennsylvania, who instantly offered this

DWIGHT FROM PENNSYLVANIA: I think all the wrote-in ballots should not be no more. It should all be people go to the polling place or they don't vote. And I also think that, after this is through the court, Trump will win.

So it went on C-Span this day. Was Rudy listening in?

Was Giuliani perhaps misled by John this day? Or is it possible that John had  been misled by Giuliani, or by other people just like him, at some earlier point?

Whichever way the cluelessness flowed, there was Rudy, four days later, making a presentation which could have aired on cable's World's Dumbest. Statisticians were eager to speak, but they were never called in.

Given the role of modern technologies, the dumbness is everywhere now in our clownish discourse. If you want the honest truth, (we) the American people aren't always all that sharp.

Indeed, Washington Journal routinely produces tsunamis of misinformation. On November 15, vast amounts of the tsunami were coming from Over There.

That said, the dumbness comes from our own tribe too, even from our most exalted intellectual leaders. Over the past four decades, the dumbness and the misinformation have also rather frequently come from our upper-end, mainstream news orgs.

The dumbness comes from our tribe too, even from our tribe's top leaders! At present, we plan to start on that grim topic this Friday morning.

Tomorrow: The AP and Governor Noem


27 comments:

  1. It's OK for Somerby to call lots of people dumb, but if liberals do it, we are being "elitist".

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. AC/ MA,
      Your First Amendment rights are getting in the way of better economic news, surely you wouldn't mind keeping your opinions to yourself for the betterment of everyone.
      Thank you for your sacrifice.

      Delete
    2. My ex-husband and I had always managed to stay friendly after our divorce in February 2017. But I always wanted to get back together with him, All it took was a visit to this spell casters website last December, because my dream was to start a new year with my husband, and live happily with him.. This spell caster requested a specific love spell for me and my husband, and I accepted it. And this powerful spell caster began to work his magic. And 48 hours after this spell caster worked for me, my husband called me back for us to be together again, and he was remorseful for all his wrong deeds. My spell is working because guess what: My “husband” is back and we are making preparations on how to go to court and withdraw our divorce papers ASAP. This is nothing short of a miracle. Thank you Dr Emu for your powerful spells. Words are not enough. here is his Email: emutemple@gmail.com or call/text him on his WhatsApp +2347012841542

      He is also able to cast spell like 1: Lottery 2: Conceive 3: Breakup 4: Divorce 5: Cure for all kinds of diseases and viruses.

      Delete
    3. Hello viewers around the Globe, I was despondent because i had a very small penis, about 2.5 inches soft and 4 inches hard not nice enough to satisfy a woman, i have been in so many relationship, but cut off because of my situation, i have used so many product which doctors for me, but none could offer me the help i searched for. i saw some few comments on the INTERNET about this specialist called Dr,OLU and decided to contact him on his email: Drolusolutinthome@gmail.com) so I decided to give his herbal product a try. i emailed him and he got back to me, he gave me some comforting words with his herbal pills for Penis Enlargement, Within 3 week of it, i began to feel the enlargement was surprised when she said that she is satisfied with my sex and i have got a large penis. Am so happy, thanks to Dr OLU I also learn that Dr OLU also help with Breast Enlargement Hips and Bums Enlargement etc.. If you are in any situation with a little Penis, weak ejaculation, small breast_hips_bums do get to Dr OLU now for help on his email ( Drolusolutionhome@gmail.com ) or add him on whatsapp line +2348140654426 

      Delete
    4. Omg I Finally Got Helped  !! I'm so excited right now, I just have to share my testimony on this Forum.. The feeling of being loved takes away so much burden from our shoulders. I had all this but I made a big mistake when I cheated on my wife with another woman  and my wife left me for over 4 months after she found out..  I was lonely, sad and devastated. Luckily I was directed to a very powerful spell caster Dr Emu who helped me cast a spell of reconciliation on our Relationship and he brought back my wife and now she loves me far more than ever.. I'm so happy with life now. Thank you so much Dr Emu, kindly Contact  Dr Emu Today and get any kind of help you want.. Via Email emutemple@gmail.com or Call/WhatsApp +2347012841542

      Delete

    5. LOTTO, lottery,jackpot.
      Hello all my viewers, I am very happy for sharing this great testimonies,The best thing that has ever happened in my life is how I win the lottery euro million mega jackpot. I am a Woman who believe that one day I will win the lottery. finally my dreams came through when I email believelovespelltemple@gmail.com and tell him I need the lottery numbers. I have spend so much money on ticket just to make sure I win. But I never know that winning was so easy until the day I meant the spell caster online which so many people has talked about that he is very great in casting lottery spell, . so I decide to give it a try.I contacted this great Dr Believe and he did a spell and he gave me the winning lottery numbers. But believe me when the draws were out I was among winners. I win 30,000 million Dollar. Dr Believe truly you are the best, all thanks to you forever












      LOTTO, lottery,jackpot.
      Hello all my viewers, I am very happy for sharing this great testimonies,The best thing that has ever happened in my life is how I win the lottery euro million mega jackpot. I am a Woman who believe that one day I will win the lottery. finally my dreams came through when I email believelovespelltemple@gmail.com and tell him I need the lottery numbers. I have spend so much money on ticket just to make sure I win. But I never know that winning was so easy until the day I meant the spell caster online which so many people has talked about that he is very great in casting lottery spell, . so I decide to give it a try.I contacted this great Dr Believe and he did a spell and he gave me the winning lottery numbers. But believe me when the draws were out I was among winners. I win 30,000 million Dollar. Dr Believe truly you are the best, all thanks to you forever

      Delete
  2. "In fairness, everything's (technically) possible."

    This is not actually true. There are many things that are technically impossible. Many that are possible but unlikely, and many that are both possible and likely. The trick is sorting these things out and figuring out what to believe. Somerby skips that step, perhaps out of intellectual laziness, perhaps due to some cognitive disability of his own. But, no, everything is not (technically) possible.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It is not technically possible that a methane-breathing creature from an as-yet undiscovered planet will be elected president in 2024. For one thing, it won't meet the citizenship requirement.

      Delete
    2. Let's see the metahne-breathing creature's long-form birth certificate.

      Delete
  3. "You can of course imagine an election in which Candidate A emerges with a large lead, only to have minions from Candidate B introduce a vast number of fraudulent ballots."

    Actually, the possibility of introducing "a vast number" of fraudulent ballots into an election is nonexistent given the way our elections are conducted. This is a fact that has been lost on Trump supporters and Somerby, apparently.

    There have been repeated explanations of why this is not a possibility. If you throw in the stupidity that Somerby attributes to people, then it is hugely unlikely, even if it were possible (which it is not).

    Experts have been saying that stuffing ballots or introducing fraudulent ballots is not a viable way of stealing an election, but hacking may be. That is why prevention efforts and election security are aimed at prevention of hacking.

    In 2016, there was solid evidence of Russian hacking of election computer systems in WI and some other states, including ones that Trump swung from blue to red. That was part of the Mueller investigation. But that isn't the kind of interference that Trump and his team have been alleging, and while those election computer systems were hacked, there is no evidence that the hackers were able to tamper with vote tallies. Again, because it is technically too difficult to steal an election in a single state, much less nationwide.

    But Somerby isn't really interested in discussing election security. He hasn't even mentioned that Trump fired his top cybersecurity guy for announcing that the election was not tampered with (which is the truth).

    But Somerby is still willing to allow the possibility that the election was stolen. Whatta guy!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Somerby's point seems to be that dumb people shouldn't be allowed to call in on C-Span, which is intended as an exercise in free speech -- that is why they don't interrupt or argue with those calling in.

    Somerby knows so little about statistics that he imagines that those calling into C-Span are representative of the general population. Sampling is part of statistics, not just calculation of death rates.

    So, either Somerby is as stupid as the people he maligns, or he has some ulterior purpose for mocking the concept of free-speech and reminding us that it is (technically) possible that the election was stolen from Trump, even if experts disagree.

    Then he says:

    "That said, the dumbness comes from our own tribe too, even from our most exalted intellectual leaders. "

    He says this without offering any examples of liberal dumbness or exalted intellectual leader dumbness. And I am not willing to believe that John was actually a Democrat, just because he called in on the Democratic C-Span line. Conservatives do that all the time and John's opinions sound as conservative as you can get these days, as do Somerby's opinions.

    I am not willing to admit that it is possible that Somerby is a liberal, as he claims, even technically.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Unfortunately, people choose to be uninformed.
    This is your typical Trump voter.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Speaking of dumb:
    I have to quit reading this stuff, but sometimes it's no wonder why Democrats lose the public opinion race. I also understand that Politico is the worst of the both siderism world, but really?
    https://www.politico.com/news/2020/11/23/confederate-bases-democrats-defense-bill-439818

    Pass the bill requiring the names to be changed and let Trump and Mitch McConnell decide if they want to hold up the defense spending bill in order to “honor" of a bunch racist traitors.
    It really doesn’t seem that complicated.

    ReplyDelete
  7. The principle of Free Speech includes the opportunity to say dumb or false things. If speech is restricted, one has the problem of Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?

    ReplyDelete
  8. When Right Wing venality reaches a certain point of obviousness Bob writes it off as our general stupidity. Whatever.

    ReplyDelete
  9.  ***PLEASE READ*** 
    I can never thank you enough DR.BALBOSA for the wonderful work you did for me and my kids to bring back my husband. Am stella Andre from England. I was having serious relationship problems with my husband and he was no longer committed to me and our kids, when i asked him what the problem was he told me he has fell out of love for me and wanted a divorce and  i was so heart broken, i cried all day and night, it had resulted in him moving out to his friend’s apartment. Everything got worse because he started going to bars and strip clubs frequently with his friend, getting drunk and passing out. He always threatens me on the phone whenever I call him because of all the bad advice that his friend has given him. I really love him and we had been married for 8 years which gave us a beautiful daughter and a son. I had also lost a lot of money on therapists until I was introduced to DR. BALBOSA by a friend whom he helped to marry her childhood boyfriend, this gave me total confidence and strength to get him back. I did all that DR. BALBOSA asked me to do it and I also followed all instructions given to me by DR. BALBOSA to my greatest surprise after 48 hours my husband called me and rushed back home with a brown new car for me and our kids... things just changed between us emotionally, I was the happiest woman on earth that day. my husband now has a good job and stopped drinking and he stopped keeping irrelevant friends. It’s a miracle I never believed was possible because I had lost all hope until I found DR. BALBOSA...contact him today and get your love back i can assure you .... contact him on his Email on: balbosasolutionhome@gmail.com and CALL/ WHATSAPP: +2347048047728... Good luck...




     ***PLEASE READ*** 
    I can never thank you enough DR.BALBOSA for the wonderful work you did for me and my kids to bring back my husband. Am stella Andre from England. I was having serious relationship problems with my husband and he was no longer committed to me and our kids, when i asked him what the problem was he told me he has fell out of love for me and wanted a divorce and  i was so heart broken, i cried all day and night, it had resulted in him moving out to his friend’s apartment. Everything got worse because he started going to bars and strip clubs frequently with his friend, getting drunk and passing out. He always threatens me on the phone whenever I call him because of all the bad advice that his friend has given him. I really love him and we had been married for 8 years which gave us a beautiful daughter and a son. I had also lost a lot of money on therapists until I was introduced to DR. BALBOSA by a friend whom he helped to marry her childhood boyfriend, this gave me total confidence and strength to get him back. I did all that DR. BALBOSA asked me to do it and I also followed all instructions given to me by DR. BALBOSA to my greatest surprise after 48 hours my husband called me and rushed back home with a brown new car for me and our kids... things just changed between us emotionally, I was the happiest woman on earth that day. my husband now has a good job and stopped drinking and he stopped keeping irrelevant friends. It’s a miracle I never believed was possible because I had lost all hope until I found DR. BALBOSA...contact him today and get your love back i can assure you .... contact him on his Email on: balbosasolutionhome@gmail.com and CALL/ WHATSAPP: +2347048047728... Good luck...

    ReplyDelete
  10. My life is back!!! After 1 years of Broken marriage, my husband left me with two kids . I felt like my life was about to end I almost committed suicide, I was emotionally down for a very long time. Thanks to a spell caster called Dr Mark, which I met online. On one faithful day, as I was browsing through the internet,I came across a lot of testimonies about this particular spell caster. Some people testified that he brought their Ex lover back, some testified that he restores womb,cure cancer,and other sickness, some testified that he can cast a spell to stop divorce and so on. I also came across one particular testimony,it was about a woman called Alandre,she testified about how he brought back her Ex lover in less than 2 days, and at the end of her testimony she dropped Dr Mark e-mail address. blessedlovetemple@gmail.com After reading all these,I decided to give it a try. I contacted him via email and explained my problem to him. In just 48 hours, my husband came back to me. We solved our issues, and we are even happier than before. Dr Mark is really a gifted man and I will not stop publishing him because he is a wonderful man... If you have a problem and you are looking for a real and genuine spell caster to solve all your problems for you. blessedlovetemple@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  11. My ex-husband and I had always managed to stay friendly after our divorce in February 2017. But I always wanted to get back together with him, All it took was a visit to this spell casters website last December, because my dream was to start a new year with my husband, and live happily with him.. This spell caster requested a specific love spell for me and my husband, and I accepted it. And this powerful spell caster began to work his magic. And 48 hours after this spell caster worked for me, my husband called me back for us to be together again, and he was remorseful for all his wrong deeds. My spell is working because guess what: My “husband” is back and we are making preparations on how to go to court and withdraw our divorce papers ASAP. This is nothing short of a miracle. Thank you Dr Emu for your powerful spells. Words are not enough. here is his Email: emutemple@gmail.com or call/text him on his WhatsApp +2347012841542

    He is also able to cast spell like 1: Lottery 2: Conceive 3: Breakup 4: Divorce 5: Cure for all kinds of diseases and viruses.

    ReplyDelete
  12. I just want the whole world to know about this spell caster I met
    two weeks ago, wisdomspiritualtemple@gmail.com I cannot say everything he has done for me my wife
    left me 3 years ago left with my kids I was going through online
    when I meant this wonderful man's testimony online I decided to
    give it a try and my wife is back to me now and we ar1e happily
    married again cause is too much to put in writing all I can say is
    thank you very much am very happy .and does alot of spell
    including Love Spell
    Death Spell
    Money Spell
    Power Spell
    Success Spell
    Sickness Spell
    Pregnancy Spell
    Marriage Spell
    Job Spell
    Protection Spell
    Lottery Spell
    Court Case Spell
    Luck Spell etc. In case you need his help contact him on this email
    address wisdomspiritualtemple@gmail.com he is a good man
    thanks.whatsapp number +234813 648 2342

    ReplyDelete
  13. This is very simple method about penis Enlargement Herbal medicine is 100% guaranteed for Penis Enlargement and Good Erection, The main reason why lots of men are finding it difficult to Enlarge penis and last long during xxx is because they so believe in medical report and drugs made of chemicals which cause damages to the body system. so I'm recommending Y'all fellow men facing this mess to contact Dr Aziba WhatsApp via +2348100368288 or Email : priestazibasolutioncenter@gmail.com for Natural Herbal Penis Enlargement Product






    This is very simple method about penis Enlargement Herbal medicine is 100% guaranteed for Penis Enlargement and Good Erection, The main reason why lots of men are finding it difficult to Enlarge penis and last long during xxx is because they so believe in medical report and drugs made of chemicals which cause damages to the body system. so I'm recommending Y'all fellow men facing this mess to contact Dr Aziba WhatsApp via +2348100368288 or Email : priestazibasolutioncenter@gmail.com for Natural Herbal Penis Enlargement Product

    ReplyDelete
  14. الفوم علية وتسليك شركة الكهرباء.
    شركه عزل فوم بالجبيل
    لا تجهد نفسك ونحن تحت امرك ورهن اشارتك .
    أبرز خدمات مؤسسة الحرمــين للمقاولات العامة بالدمام والرياض

    شركه عزل فوم بالدمام

    شركه عزل فوم بالقطيف

    ReplyDelete
  15. Contact DR DADA for Your Penis Enlargement pills which is capable of turning  your sex life from a laughing stock into a paradise. i had my penis grown from 4 inches to 10 inches and my sex life is wonderful contact DR DADA today to get your penis issue fixed he also cures sickness with his herbal medication my Aunt was cured of herpes as a results of DR DADA Herbal medication he cures lots of sickness, HIV/AID, HSV 1&2, CANCER, ASTHMA, HPV, COPD and lots more get in touch with him on today and get what bothering YOU soled mail (drdadaspellhome7@gmail.com) OR WHATAPP +22367565345  

    ReplyDelete

  16. شركه عزل فوم بالدمام عزل فوم بعنيزة هو افضل انواع العوازل فى الفترة الاخيرة المستخدم فى حماية الأسطح من الرطوبة العالية وتسربات المياه.

    مادة كويتية الصنع تستخدم بماكينات ضغط الهواء من خلال افضل مجموعة عمل مكونة من فنيين وعمالة مدربة فى تنظيف السطح ورش
    شركه عزل فوم بالرياض

    شركه عزل فوم بالجبيل

    شركة تنظيف مكيفات بالرياض أبرز خدمات مؤسسة الحرمــين للمقاولات العامة بالدمام والرياض

    شركه عزل فوم بالدمام

    شركه عزل فوم بالقطيف

    ReplyDelete
  17. I really want to thank Dr Emu for saving my marriage. My wife really treated me badly and left home for almost 3 month this got me sick and confused. Then I told my friend about how my wife has changed towards me then she told me to contact Dr Emu that he will help me bring back my wife and change her back to a good woman. I never believed in all this but I gave it a try. Dr Emu casted a spell of return of love on her, and my wife came back home for forgiveness and today we are happy again. If you are going through any relationship stress or you want back your Ex or Divorce husband you can contact his whatsapp +2347012841542 or email emutemple@gmail.com 

    ReplyDelete
  18. Commercial loan,
    Education loan,
    Car loan,
    Loan for assets.
    financialserviceoffer876@gmail.com Whatsapp +918929509036

    ReplyDelete

  19. LOTTO, lottery,jackpot.
    Hello all my viewers, I am very happy for sharing this great testimonies,The best thing that has ever happened in my life is how I win the lottery euro million mega jackpot. I am a Woman who believe that one day I will win the lottery. finally my dreams came through when I email believelovespelltemple@gmail.com and tell him I need the lottery numbers. I have spend so much money on ticket just to make sure I win. But I never know that winning was so easy until the day I meant the spell caster online which so many people has talked about that he is very great in casting lottery spell, . so I decide to give it a try.I contacted this great Dr Believe and he did a spell and he gave me the winning lottery numbers. But believe me when the draws were out I was among winners. I win 30,000 million Dollar. Dr Believe truly you are the best, all thanks to you forever











    LOTTO, lottery,jackpot.
    Hello all my viewers, I am very happy for sharing this great testimonies,The best thing that has ever happened in my life is how I win the lottery euro million mega jackpot. I am a Woman who believe that one day I will win the lottery. finally my dreams came through when I email believelovespelltemple@gmail.com and tell him I need the lottery numbers. I have spend so much money on ticket just to make sure I win. But I never know that winning was so easy until the day I meant the spell caster online which so many people has talked about that he is very great in casting lottery spell, . so I decide to give it a try.I contacted this great Dr Believe and he did a spell and he gave me the winning lottery numbers. But believe me when the draws were out I was among winners. I win 30,000 million Dollar. Dr Believe truly you are the best, all thanks to you forever

    ReplyDelete