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.
Somerby is back to maligning humanity again this morning.
ReplyDeleteAnthropologists do not support any of the statements Somerby keeps making. Nor do scientists. Somerby makes up experts to support the other things he makes up.
Future anthropologists huddling in caves disagree.
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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
Why would anthropologists huddle in caves when they have the knowledge to build first-class lodge houses?
DeletePolitically motivated lies are not "Tribal Storyline." Ugly use of anthropological language implies that indigenous people (who are organized into tribes) are somehow more likely to engage in this kind of lying than sociopathic dictator-wannabes like Trump, who is an aberration, a deviation from what it means to be a normal human being.
ReplyDeleteAttempting to normalize Trump by portraying his disorder as just part of campaigning is what creates the confusion Somerby is pretending to decry. Yes, people can tell lies because we possess an imagination. But we are taught as children that lying is wrong, especially in situations requiring trust, and we learn not to lie. Our society has rules against lying for gain, such as the fraud laws Trump broke, for which he was convicted of 34 felonies. Lying is not an OK part of any human culture.
Somerby pretense that this is just what humans do, ignores what scientists (including psychologists) and anthropologists (who are also experts on human behavior) actually say and think about humanity. Somerby is too lazy to research this, so he just lies about what the experts think about such lying. That is not only lazy, but it compounds the problem.
Normalizing Trump is not something anyone should be doing these days. PP will say that Somerby is complaining about Trump and his followers. If that were true, he would (1) say so directly, (2) leave anthropologists and scientists out of it, (3) point out the problems that arise when Trump and his followers lie to prospective voters, (4) say something to support Harris, who is NOT lying, (5) defend the truth and debunk the claim about raiding FEMA, which Somerby claims has been debunked a million times without himself presenting the truth to offset the lies he repeated several times in his own post.
But there is also the issue of the behavior Somerby is modeling when he clearly shows us that he has been watching Fox 24/7, as he explicitly said he does. Why should anyone be watching Fox at all? Why do the lies spread there deserve retelling and enhancing by amplification via Somerby's own blog? When information is unreliable, you stop repeating it. Somerby does the opposite. That raises the issue of Somerby's own motives -- that he retells bad info without contradicting it, and then goes back every day for more of that propaganda. That isn't how someone opposed to spreading disinformation would behave.
"Lying is not an OK part of any human culture."
ReplyDeleteTell that to David in Cal. He just shrugs at it.
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DeleteAt 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.
This comment has been removed by the author.
DeletePeople lie for instrumental reasons (to achieve goals). David is doing that and so is Somerby. That is all Trump ever does. Just like Trump is a transactional people -- everything he does is to benefit himself in some way -- lying is a means to an end.
DeleteThe cure for lying is to tell the truth. Somerby has been lying here for years, at least since 2015 and perhaps earlier. He has never come clean. If Somerby wishes to do something about the rampant lying in this campaign, he can start by telling the truth about his own role on this blog. He won't do that because lying is his purpose here, just as it is for Campos-Duffy and Trump himself.
ReplyDeleteHaters gotta hate.
Delete"Why should anyone be watching Fox at all?"
ReplyDeleteHe's a media critic. Duh.
Somerby as media critic is another lie.
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ReplyDeleteIn 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.
Stop spamming this blog. Somerby would remove these commericial messages if he cared about his blog.
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ReplyDeleteCampos-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.
OK, no truth and no discussion today, because Somerby is allowing spam.
ReplyDeleteThese lies are not coming from humanity because people are human. They are coming from Trump and Steve Miller because they are trying to steal an election by lying to voters:
ReplyDelete"MAGA Republicans are now lying about the federal response to Hurricane Helene in much the same way they lied about Haitian migrants bringing chaos and disease to Springfield, Ohio. Both disinformation efforts are flat-out lies, and both are designed to demonize immigrants. Immigration was the issue Trump was so eager to run on that he demanded Republican lawmakers reject the strong border bill a bipartisan group of lawmakers had hammered out.
The federal response to Hurricane Helene has drawn bipartisan praise, with Republican governor Henry McMaster of South Carolina thanking Biden by name for what McMaster called a “superb” response.
But on Sunday, September 29, two days after the hurricane hit, the right-wing organization started by anti-immigrant Trump loyalist Stephen Miller posted: “Billions for Ukraine. Billions for illegal aliens. And what for the Americans? Reprogram every single dollar that FEMA has dedicated to support illegal aliens to go towards Americans who are facing unprecedented devastation!”
Yesterday, in Saginaw, Michigan, Trump echoed Miller, claiming that the Biden administration is botching the hurricane response because it has spent all the money appropriated for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) on “illegal immigrants.” “They spent it all on illegal migrants.… They stole the FEMA money just like they stole it from a bank, so they could give it to their illegal immigrants that they want to have vote for them,” he said. Today, he claimed that “a billion dollars was stolen from FEMA to use it for illegal migrants, many of whom are criminals, to come into our country.”
Early this morning, X owner Elon Musk posted to his more than 200 million followers: “Yes, they are literally using YOUR tax dollars to import voters and disenfranchise you! It is happening right in front of your eyes. And FEMA used up its budget ferrying illegals into the country instead of saving American lives. Treason.” On Wednesday, Dana Mattioli, Joe Palazzolo, and Khadeeja Safdar of the Wall Street Journal broke the story that Musk has been financing groups with ties to Miller since 2022.
But of course, it is NOT happening in front of anyone’s eyes.
Cont.
Delete"On Wednesday, Alejandro Mayorkas, the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security in which FEMA is housed, told reporters that FEMA’s disaster relief fund is adequately funded for current needs. But, he warned, “extreme weather events are increasing in frequency and severity,” and we are not yet out of hurricane season. If another emergency hits, FEMA’s disaster relief fund will be stretched thin.
Congress also appropriated money for a different fund, the Shelter and Services Program (SSP), which is part of Customs and Border Protection but is administered by FEMA. Established under the Trump administration in 2019, SSP gives grants to states and local governments to provide shelter, food, and transportation to undocumented immigrants. After Trump’s accusation, the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement: “These claims are completely false. As Secretary Mayorkas said, FEMA has the necessary resources to meet the immediate needs associated with Hurricane Helene and other disasters. The Shelter and Services Program (SSP) is a completely separate, appropriated grant program that was authorized and funded by Congress and is not associated in any way with FEMA’s disaster-related authorities or funding streams.”
Glenn Kessler of the Washington Post did not leave the story there. “Trump has a habit of assuming other politicians act in the same way as he would,” Kessler wrote. So he looked into why Trump would have accused Biden “of raiding the FEMA disaster fund to handle undocumented migrants. It turns out that’s because he did this.”
In the middle of hurricane season in 2019, Kessler explains, Trump took $155 million from the FEMA disaster fund and redirected it to pay for detention space and temporary hearing locations for immigrants seeking asylum. “No, Biden didn’t take FEMA relief money to use on migrants,” the article title reads, “but Trump did.”
There is more where this came from:
https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/october-4-2024
Somerby could as easily have found this on substack and used some of this info to debunk the Fox lies he instead has spread today.
Information has not ceased to exist, as Somerby suggests in his headline. Information is alive and well.
ReplyDeleteThe solution to Somerby ginormous insurmountable problem is for people to stop watching unreliable sources such as Fox News and the worse alt-right sources. They are lying liars (as Al Franken pointed out so many years ago, long before Trump was placed on scene by his handlers).
Every work on fiction on TV is, in a sense, a lie because it is not true. We recognize that and enjoy such works as fiction, suspending disbelief and immersing ourselves in "what if?" Trump can be viewed the same way.
There is a critical function in our frontal lobes that allows us to distinguish fact from fiction, to evaluate the source of info and decide whether (or to what extent) it is true. ALL human have this ability, but when people have dementia or head injury, disease (such as Parkinson's) or other brain damage, that area of the brain may function less well. That area is under-developed in children and is the last part of the brain to fully mature, hence the impaired judgment of teens and the inability to distinguish fact from fantasy of small kids. Normal adults have no excuse for failing to apply this critical function to info they encounter in their lives. Ignoring critical thinking occurs at one's own risk because people can be seriously harmed by bad info.
It is unclear whether Somerby encourages people in their consumption of unreality because he finds it entertaining, or because someone pays him, but it is cruel to encourage people in actions that will hurt them. Many writers have explained how the biggest victims of Trump's lying are his own followers. Tina Peters is the latest example (she is going to jail for 9 years because she believed Trump).
Confusing people about reality here, by saying that there is no cure for being human and lying is part of that, when telling the difference between truth and lies is actually what is part of being a normal human being, contributes to the confusion experienced by people who do not think as well as those with intact critical thinking processes. Shame on Somerby for attacking impaired people by encouraging them to watch Fox News and think of Trump as any kind of normal person! This is not how a responsible person behaves online. Somerby is as responsible for damaging others as those who engage in lying on Fox News (for their own profit). I don't know what Somerby's gig is here, but he is hurting people when he writes trash like today's post. He would do better to spend his days re-reading Homer, because at least them he isn't giving comfort to those who prey upon the confused.
Chemistry is bunk because Moolenaar failed to perform as desired?
ReplyDeleteA world leader, through sheer political and economic brilliance, creates what is hailed as the greatest economy in history. Yet, in the same country this leader serves, the majority of citizens are deep in debt, living paycheck to paycheck, and highly depressed. Suicide rates have reached an all-time high, increasing by over 35% in the last two decades. One in three citizens, despite living in this so-called greatest economy, must work a second job just to make ends meet. On their way to this job, they pass permanent encampments of desperate, homeless citizens—also residents of this "great" economy, whom the leader is elected to serve. Meanwhile, on the radio, as they observe these encampments or reflect on their debt, they hear about the leader sending hundreds of billions of dollars to a foreign country they've never heard of.
ReplyDeleteThese citizens, burdened with debt, no savings, and stuck in a cycle of survival, are now asked by the leader for support in an upcoming election. Advocates for the leader insist that, because they live in the greatest economy ever, the leader deserves their vote.
This level of gaslighting, of sheer bullshit, compels citizens to send a message. It drives them to turn to charlatans who may be no better, and perhaps worse, but at least don’t gaslight them in such a blatant and offensive manner.
Where did FEMA's money go? FEMA has a budget of billions of dollars. This year's hurricanes have been unusually light, so one would expect FEMA to have an unusually large amount of money remaining. Yet, Mayorkas just announced that they're running out of money.
ReplyDeleteWe don't know where all this money went, because the Biden Harris Administration hasn't told us. In a democracy we should be entitled to that information.
The idea that excessive money was spent on illegal immigrants is just a guess, but it's a plausible guess. There's an unusual lack of money and an unusually large number of illegal immigrants. And, we haven't been given any other explanation.
Read the article at the link for Heather Cox Richardson above @10:55 am. It explains and answers all of your questions.
Delete