THE DANIEL DALE EXPERIENCE: The coronation of Daniel Dale!

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2018

Childish, embarrassing work:
The critics insisted that we were wrong when we held "The Daniel Dale Experience" over for a second week, as we did last Monday.

In truth, we'd stumbled into the decision. That said, the rolling coronation of Dale became official this past week. From that, we think we can derive some anthropology lessons.

The rolling coronation of Dale continued in the past week. Last Thursday evening, on The Last Word, Dale was hailed as an "invaluable" servant to "future historians" by none other than Lawrence O'Donnell.

Yesterday morning, the official coronation took place in the Washington Post's Outlook section.

There's a great deal to learn from the rolling group judgment now being expressed concerning Dale's current work. And yes! In part, these anthropology lessons will take us back to the work of Professor Harari concerning the actual dominant traits of our warlike species.

Yesterday's ceremony took place on page 2 of Outlook. In essence, Dale broke a bottle of champagne over the bow of his own ship. In hard copy, his essay ran beneath this across-the-page headline:
It’s easy to fact check Trump’s lies. He tells the same ones all the time.
As we've said several times, it seems to us that Daniel Dale is completely sincere in his ongoing work about Trump's "lies." That said, the best among us may have their heads turned when they get turned into gods.

In that headline, Dale seems to be humble-bragging about his own ongoing work. The bragging ceases to be disguised as his essay starts.

Dale strikes us as completely sincere, but just how sharp is his work? This is the way he began:
DALE (11/18/18): It’s easy to fact check Trump’s lies. He tells the same ones all the time.

I’ve made it my mission to fact-check every word Donald Trump utters as president.
That means trying to watch every speech, read every transcript, decipher every tweet. I’ve accidentally established a reputation for using Twitter to point out that he’s lying within seconds of him telling a lie.

People sometimes ask in response how I can blast out these corrections so quickly. But I have no special talent. My secret is that Trump tells the same lies over and over.
Forgive us if we suspect that the lionization has started to go to Dale's head.

As he starts, Dale ceases to be a journalist; instead, he fashions himself as a man with a "mission." He says the public is stupefied by the speed with which he can work.

Dale then proceeds to offer examples of Donald Trump's "lies." At this point, we're forced to raise a question about the level of intellectual skill at work within our upper-end press.

Let's be clear on one basic point. Fact-checking Donald J. Trump is indeed important work. There is no doubt that Trump utters an endless array of false and/or misleading statements. He makes a lot of unfounded claims. He exaggerates routinely.

Over the weekend, Trump gave the impression that he knows how prevention of forest fires works. Almost surely, he didn't have the slightest idea what he was talking about. As people with cognitive impairments may do, he makes such baldly ridiculous statements on a routine basis.

Does Donald J. Trump really believe that he understands the way "raking" the forest floor would prevent forest fires? Over the weekend, he gave that gonzo impression. In truth, this disordered man may be so far gone that he did believe what he said.

At any rate, let's state the obvious. Not every false, misleading or unfounded statement is in fact a lie. Beyond that, it's hard for an observer to know when an actual lie actually is a lie. (You can tell when you are telling a lie. It's harder with somebody else.)

Did Person X just tell a lie? Making that judgment requires a type of knowledge that's hard to obtain about other people, especially about disordered people like Trump. Traditionally, American journalism has operated on that basic understanding.

Traditionally, journalists have been very slow to say a false claim is a lie. In yesterday's sprawling essay, Dale walks away from such traditional understandings. As with O'Donnell, so too here:

Everything is a lie to Dale. These are his first examples:
DALE: On his fifth day in office, Trump baselessly alleged widespread voter fraud. He did the same thing this past week. In his third month in office, Trump falsely claimed that the United States has a $500 billion trade deficit with China. He has said the same thing more than 80 times since.

Listen to this president long enough, and you can almost sense when a lie is coming. If Trump tells a story in which an unnamed person calls him “sir,” it’s probably invented. If Trump claims he has set a record, he probably hasn’t. If Trump cites any number at all, the real number is usually smaller.
To Dale, every false, unfounded or annoying statement now qualifies as a "lie."

We're supposed to assume that a disordered man like Trump knows how large the trade deficit with China is. We're supposed to feel sure that this disordered man didn't believe the various claims he has made about voter fraud.

Most embarrassingly, every time Trump tells a story in which someone addresses him as "sir," we're apparently supposed to regard that as a lie!

"You can almost sense it," Dale says. He's speaking there as a novelist; he's a journalist no more. In this way, modern tribal journalism sinks into a childish morass on the level of something invented by Donald J. Trump.

Not every false claim is a lie. Not every lie can be reliably identified as such by an external party. That said, the liberal and mainstream press corps have fallen in love with the claim that targeted pols are "lying." No other locution will do.

Those paragraphs by Daniel Dale constitute remarkably childish work. When journalists work with such limited skills, democratic government is further endangered.

Let us share some news:

The fact that our journalists are no sharper than this helps explain many of our the disasters of the past thirty years. If our journalists possess such childish intellects, it's hardly surprising that they were willing, for several years, to assure the world that Candidate Gore was the world's biggest liar, the bomb they now throw at Trump.

(Beyond that, those journalists "could almost sense" that Candidate Gore had "hired a woman to teach him how to be a man." They said it over and over and over again. Children are dead all over the world because these idiots behaved this way. Thanks to the press corps' codes of silence, you're still not permitted to know this.)

Why do people like Dale and O'Donnell think no word but "lie" will suffice? We can't answer that question, but the intellectual level of their work comes right off the part of the playground where the 7-year-olds are fighting about who gets to use which swing.

Is something wrong with speaking with a bit more precision than our "journalists" are willing to do? With saying that President Trump constantly makes statements which are blatantly false; with saying that he constantly repeats such claims even after they've been corrected; with saying that he constantly issues sweeping claims which seem to be completely unfounded; with saying that he acts like he knows what he's talking about when he plainly doesn't?

Would something be wrong with using the term "apparent lie" in appropriate situations? Would something be wrong in exercising the kind of judgment one would expect at the highest levels of a major elite in the world's most powerful nation, the one with the most nuclear bombs and the most disordered commander in chief?

When our press corps behaves in the manner of O'Donnell and Dale, very bad things start to happen. Among those bad effects is this:

The Others look at work like this and see that it really is "fake." They see that the Washington Post is publishing silly, childish crap in its most visible weekly section. This reinforces the view, Over There, that nothing else should be listened to or believed in mainstream critiques of Trump.

Dale's essay in yesterday's Outlook section is baldly embarrassing work. It's embarrassing to see such work published in the Washington Post, lauded on The Last Word.

Can we talk? Anthropologically, this isn't the work of us the rational animal. This is "gossip" and "fiction"-fueled tribal war of the kind Professor Harari has described.

Tomorrow, before running to catch a train, we'll show you what several major journalists said when Dale made the same type of presentation on CNN's Reliable Sources. How bad was the overall discussion that day? We'll quote two other participants in that discussion to show you the utterly fatuous level of current upper-end press corps work.

People die around the world under presidents like Trump. Over the past thirty years, childish work by our upper-end press has enabled these many deaths too.

Tomorrow: Pure piffle from Marvin Kalb

37 comments:

  1. Donald The Spectacular is the only politician of all times who hasn't told any lies at all. The Man does exactly what he says, no bullshit, completely atypical of a politician.

    No wonder the hate-spewing lib-zombie death-cult is panicking.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Trump is stuck in Mexico, because he was on the wrong side of the border when his wall was built. What a fucking moron, or what we in the biz call "a Conservative".

      Delete
    2. Thanks.
      I love me too, Mao.

      Delete
    3. Donald The Spectacular

      When you get into 4th Grade, you'll be embarrassed by that quote.

      Delete
    4. Dear traitor, if you wait 11 minutes before publishing your first gibberish one-liner, you'll be able to publish four gibberish one-liners with one click.

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  2. "People die around the world under presidents like Trump."

    Ah yes, Bob. How is that famous Trump War is doing? You promised it so many times, and I've been and waiting and waiting... Could you confirm that it's still coming, please.

    Oh yeah, and also the fascist takeover. Is it still prophesied by you and your cult leaders?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Of course not every misstatement is a lie, but some certainly are. Donald Trump said that the name of the town that burned in California was "Pleasure" not "Paradise." Jerry Brown winced, as shown by John Oliver. No one else reported that, as if ignoring the mistake would make Trump less obviously mentally damaged. Who names a town "Pleasure"? The man has no frontal lobe filter, no test for the ridiculousness of the things he says. So he can say anything without noticing his own mistakes. He no longer bothers to test for truth value. That suggests that he cannot lie, according to Somerby's definition, because he is always unaware of whether what he says makes any sense at all.

    But does that mean we must treat all of his statements as mistakes or truths? Of course not. The standard just shifts and becomes a normative one, not one based on Trump's own knowledge of his intentions. These things are lies because they are gross violations of what we all know to be true, gross violations of fact. And that is an appropriate standard too.

    There is no point to Somerby's incessant defense of Trump, his claims that we cannot call him a liar because we don't know his state of mind. Our society could not function if that were the only way to judge a lie -- and it isn't, for anyone. A standard that requires a "theory of mind" about the liar would be unworkable for all practical purposes. We don't use such a standard ever. Because we don't inhabit other people's minds.

    So why is Somerby doing this? Why does he demand that we adopt his standard -- one that is unworkable? Why does he give aid and comfort to this deranged man and his defenders? Why doesn't he read a little bit about lying before he writes garbage like this? It isn't as if there is no literature on it. It isn't as if lying hasn't been studied by psychologists.

    Somerby is being an ass again, and the holidays are upon us. I am pondering whether to come back again. Increasingly, it seems like a contest between Trump and Somerby, for the title of most deranged old man. The winner loses.

    ReplyDelete
  4. No, we are not panicking. We just overwhelmingly won an election and we will be coming for your president in 2020.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. On which planet did you "overwhelmingly win an election", my dear?

      But yeah, "panicking" was a wrong word. Cross it out, replace with "foaming at the mouth like a rabid raccoon"...

      Delete
    2. " replace with "foaming at the mouth like a rabid raccoon"..."
      ...or "loving life".

      Delete
    3. Planet earth USA flipped nearly 40 congressional seats and held fairly steady on a senate map strongly favoring states with nobody living in them. (That switches in favor of a Dem senate in 2020.) This "R" disaster happened during record low unemployment and a steadily growing (since Obama's stimulus bill) economy. I sure wish I had some of your Kool-aide Mao, must be a fine brew.

      Delete
    4. On planet Earth, dear, president's party always lose house seats two years after his first election.

      Alas, pure hatred is better motivator for the zombie minority, than low unemployment for the rest of us.

      Usually more seats are lost, though.

      Delete
    5. So NOT pure hatred for the zombie minority, but actually something that always happens to the president's party two years after his first election.

      Why didn't you just say that without the mental masturbation?

      Delete
    6. To add to 11:15:
      Tsk, tsk. Donnie the Magnificent, who said he was really on the ballot, before he said he wasn’t, doesn’t seem so magnificent right now. The Magnificent one couldn’t hold the House? Here’s the deal:

      the average midterm loss for the president's party is 25 U.S. House seats.

      * Presidents below 50% approval see party lose 37 House seats, on average
      * Seat loss has averaged 14 for presidents above 50% job approval
      As of now, Trump’s GOP has lost at least *40* seats in the House. So, Trump is just your standard issue worse than average unpopular pol. Frowny face.

      Delete
    7. "the average midterm loss"

      I wasn't talking about every midterm, dembot; just the midterms after the initial election.

      So, why don't you stop thinking about masturbation for a second and try to concentrate?

      Delete
    8. It’s even worse if you restrict your view to two term presidents; the average loss in the first midterms is only 30 seats. Trump is looking worse and worse. Perhaps you should stop talking before you lose further ground.

      Delete
  5. “As he starts, Dale ceases to be a journalist; instead, he fashions himself as a man with a "mission."

    Is Somerby familiar with the word “muckrakers?” These were journalists whose ...ahem, mission, was to “raise public awareness and anger at urban poverty, unsafe working conditions, prostitution, and child labor.”

    This type of journalism has a long and important tradition therefore in America.

    Somerby needs to study this before he goes and makes pronouncements about how “journalism” is defined in his own limited understanding.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Is it Dale’s work that is “childish and embarrassing”, or the press’ work for praising Dale’s work? Or is it because Dale humble-brags as he arrogantly revels in his newfound godhood, while being perfectly sincere? In true Somerby fashion, it’s hard to tell. And in true Somerby fashion, he can’t seem to write a post without mind-reading his target, in this case regarding Dale’s motives and state of mind.

    At any rate, Somerby’s main criticism of Dale is his use of the word “lie” instead of whatever term Somerby prefers. The body of Dale’s work is the documenting of the “apparently false claims/misstatements/(word of Somerby’s choosing)”. That is an important contribution to our understanding of Trump, and serves as a valuable documentation of his endless...whatchamacallits. Dale doesn’t just call a Trump statement a lie, or false claim (a term he sometimes uses instead); he also explains why it is false. He supplies his readers with the facts, so that they are informed as to the truth. As such, Dale does ample research into Trump’s claims and into the truth of those claims. He is thus refuting Trump’s claims with facts, as a journalist should. For Somerby to mock the entirety of Dale’s work because of an objection to a single word is quite short sighted.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Dale is criticizing words: misstatements, exaggerations, falsehoods, lies. Trump is lifting poor blacks and Hispanics out of poverty -- bringing jobs and reducing the risk of being murdered. IMHO Trump's actions are doing more to benefit the public than Dale's.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You believe that because you're an ignorant yokel.

      Delete
    2. *Trump* is lifting them out of poverty? How exactly? Does he rule by fiat? Or are his interminable rallies and golfing singlehandedly pulling them up to middle class and stopping the violence?

      Delete
    3. Donald The Superior is lifting you, sad dembot, out of poverty by successfully dismantling the globalist world order instituted by your death-cult leaders, dembot.

      Delete
    4. Trump's Establishment Elite choices to run his cabinet says otherwise. Don't beat yourself up over the fact you already knew that, Mao.

      Delete
    5. AnonymousNovember 19, 2018 at 12:48 PM
      *Trump* is lifting them out of poverty? How exactly?


      One answer comes from a black conservative:
      If Trump set out to hurt blacks by pushing economic policies that helped reduce black unemployment to an all-time low; by attempting to stop unskilled illegal alien workers from competing with unskilled blacks for jobs and wages; and by empowering inner-city black parents, rather than the government, to pick the school for their children, then Trump needs to go back to racism school.
      https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2018/11/15/if_trump_is_racist_he_needs_to_go_back_to_racism_school_138655.html

      Delete
    6. Trump has been in office less than two years. All of the positive employment and economic trends began years ago under Obama. Trump inherits good numbers, and you credit *Trump* with creating the trends? Unbelievable.

      Delete
    7. Unbelievable indeed. Don't you know, dembot, that they started from George Washington?

      Delete
    8. George Washington? You mean Jefferson Davis, O Conservative.

      Delete
    9. DavidinCal,
      Trump is never going to hold employers accountable for hiring illegal aliens. Those employers, the establishment elite, are his base. He may give them a huge tax break and provide them longer and stronger patents, so they can make the citizens pay more for their goods and services, but hold them accountable for the Right-wing crime of the century? Not a fucking chance.
      Lucky for you, you didn't believe a thing you wrote, or else you'd really feel stupid.

      Delete
  8. Time to stop blogging and go back to yelling at kids to get off your lawn. You're obviously done.

    ReplyDelete
  9. "At any rate, let's state the obvious. Not every false, misleading or unfounded statement is in fact a lie. Beyond that, it's hard for an observer to know when an actual lie actually is a lie." Beyond the indeed "obvious" existence of erroneous statements is the "hard" question of the difference among "lies," "errors," and "bullshit." But the distinction among those terms is not the least bit "hard." It is quite obvious. Behind every lie is the *intention to deceive*. And just about everyone, supporters, opponents, and "resisters," has to agree that Trumpe-l'oeil, even when his declarations can be represented as containing quarter-or-half-truths, is engaged in a full-time effort to deceive the whole public opinion. As such, everything spewed from his mouth can only be regarded as a lie (at least until proven beyond reasonable doubt). Any of the mealy-mouthed "traditional journalistic" euphemisms for his lying are themselves nothing but cowardly lies.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Let's quote from the man of the hour:

    “The final key to the way I promote is bravado. I play to people’s fantasies. People may not always think big themselves, but they can still get very excited by those who do. That’s why a little hyperbole never hurts. People want to believe that something is the biggest and the greatest and the most spectacular. I call it truthful hyperbole. It’s an innocent form of exaggeration—and a very effective form of promotion.”

    link to story

    That old practice of calling people retards is kind of going out the window, Howler. He's obviously got some kind of obsessive streak, some kind of personality disorder, word aphasia, but playground insults are only making you feel good. They don't explain what he's doing.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Trump is a liar and a thief.
    And Putin's bitch.

    Here is an undisputed lie by Trump:
    "I have proof that Obama was born in Kenya".
    Here is undisputed truth that Trump is a thief:
    Trump U. Where DinC got his advanced degrees.
    Trump is Putin's bitch.
    Ah, we have to wait until the tapes of the Russian whores pissing on him is leaked, for confirmation.


    Patience is a virtue.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Trump ain't nuthin' but shit and neither is anyone who supports him.

    End of goddamn discussion.

    ReplyDelete
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