The biggest problems we are are facing now is that the president of the US is using highly effective fascist-style propaganda on US citizens.
First I’ll discuss the problem. Then solutions.
Propaganda techniques being weaponized by Trump include “bothsidesism” and what one study calls the Firehose of Falsehoods.
After Trump’s speech last night, you might want to revisit this post about combating the firehose of falsehoods.
Here’s a sampling of what came from Trump family members, Trump campaign officials, and GOP senators after the Iowa Democratic Primary debacle:
This sort of thing intentionally:
- sows doubt and confusion
- undermines confidence in democratic institutions, and
- undermines factuality (which in turn undermines rule of law; you can’t have rule of law without an intact public sphere.
Doomsayers are [inadvertently?] helping.
Not if the point is to sow division, create doubt, muddy the waters, and create a “bothsides” argument.
Put bluntly, the US president and a major political party are conducting a soviet-style disinformation campaign against their own citizens. Recall that Operation Ukraine Shakedown was at heart a disinformation campaign: Pressure Ukraine to announce an investigation, and then fool American voters into thinking it was initiated by Ukrainians.
I begin with this premise: If the Democrats win the House, Senate, and White House in Nov, we can rapidly undo the damage.
I prefer 538 polling aggregate because it prevents us from focusing on outlier polls, and shows change over time.
Trump won in 2016 with 45.5% of the vote. He dropped rapidly and never again reached that height.
From this chart I learn that a solid 52-53% of the population dislikes Trump. That is unlikely to change.
(Nobody’s ever won 52% of the vote and lost the electoral college)
As long as that 52% votes for the Democratic nominee, the Dems almost certainly win the White House. But we also need the Senate. From this chart I also learn that a solid 40% will vote for Trump no matter what.
The question of the hour:
Yup, it’s a cult. For more on cults, click here.
We need a long term solution for dealing with demagogues and their cults. The short term solution is to not to argue with them. You won’t change their minds, you’ll wear yourselves out trying. If you want an idea what they’re like, click here for a clip from the Daily Show.
The people up for grabs, the persuadable voters, is a band of about 5-7% of voters. Get a chunk of those, and we can reach landslide numbers.
The problem: These are also the people vulnerable to propaganda. Given the recent uptick in Trump’s approval, the disinformation tactics are clearly working.
This is a fabulous list of ways to fight disinformation campaigns.
#3 on this list of how to fight a disinformation campaign is “raise awareness.”
#6 is “Civil society” must be involved (that means us, not just the government or institutions)
(Taylor Swift says: “Nobody is going to save us . . . We have to save ourselves.”)
#7 “Acknowledge the limits of debunking” dovetails with the conclusions of this article.
Disinformation doesn’t merely present “alternate facts.” It creates the sense that there are actually no knowable truths.
#10 says: “adapt the response to the audience” and mentions those who can only “consume entertaining information.”
In other words, don’t try logic with people whose brains don’t function that way. For example, “Trump is mean” might be a better message for some of your persuadable neighbors trying to refute Trump’s message with facts and logic.
This is precisely why you have to adjust your argument to the person. When you find a persuadable voter in real life (don’t bother with Twitter People) ask questions before you make your pitch. Find out what matters to the person.
For decades, as the GOP morphed from a conservative to an authoritarian party, they’ve cloaked their devious means behind pretty words.
Trump made the subtext text.
Sometimes I think things are unfolding as they should. The truth is out in the open now.
California can show the way. (If you don’t know how California turned blue, here’s a post for you.)
