I’ll Give Up That Double Cheeseburger When You Pry It Out of My Cold, Dead, Hands
Have you heard the news? Joe Biden’s Green New Deal is gonna ruin our July 4th celebrations.
At least that’s what the chatterboxes at Faux News were upset about this weekend. Fact checkers everywhere rushed to assure the public that it wasn’t true, proving to themselves, once again, that they were indeed fair and balanced.
Today’s column is all about the latest crop of lies. And a few thoughts on dealing with them.
The ultimate in hyperbole at Fox came from the always wrong headed Larry Kudlow (who admitted it was partially in jest):
Speaking of stupid, there’s a study coming out of the University of Michigan which says that to meet the Biden Green New Deal targets, America has to, get this, America has to stop eating meat, stop eating poultry and fish, seafood, eggs, dairy, and animal-based fats. Ok, got that? No burger on July 4. No steaks on the barbecue. I’m sure Middle America is just going to love that. Can you grill those Brussels sprouts? So get ready. You can throw back a plant-based beer with your grilled Brussels sprouts and wave your American flag. Call it July 4th Green.
If you think Kudlow is upset now, wait until he finds out Biden is going to make all of us drink hydrogen-and-oxygen-based water!
Aside: The kernel of truth in what Fox is saying is that reducing our consumption of animal protein would contribute significantly toward combatting climate change. But if you don't believe in climate change, go ahead and eat that huge steak every day. Charles Darwin will thank you from the grave.
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One part of telling Big Lies is blaming your opponents for doing what you’re doing. Take, for instance, Sen. Rand Paul, whose behavior during the pandemic has been a danger to people around him and the public at large:
https://twitter.com/realTuckFrumper/status/1386361631844745217?s=20
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Failed municipal real estate dealer Kevin Faulconer took to the interwebs last night to use the Oscars as an excuse to condemn Gov. Gavin Newsom:
https://twitter.com/Kevin_Faulconer/status/1386545234989895680?s=20
Of course, he’d be the first to complain if the various entertainment media went with all reruns this year, and no doubt blame Newsom. In fact, the Academy Awards went with the same mask and testing procedures negotiated between studios, health authorities, and unions.
Short version = test, test, test/ on camera mask on; off camera mask off.
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Speaking of failed humans, Newt Gingrich was given plenty of airtime this weekend. Somehow some people don’t find it curious that a guy whose personal life could best be summed up with one word --ewww-- is a spokesperson for “traditional values.”
Gingrich argued, "every idiotic thing that the Biden administration has done in the first 100 days, you begin to realize -- whether it's threatening everybody who believes in the Second Amendment or it's attacking everybody who believes in right to life or it is attacking people of traditional values who are appalled that this administration would fly the gay flag at American embassies all over the world -- I mean, you just go down item by item and it's almost like they have a checklist of 'What can we do that will really, truly, infuriate tradition Americans?'"
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The biggest (and most dangerous) lie making the rounds these days concerns the alternative narrative being pushed about the January 6th Capitol insurrection.
Democratic led efforts for a Congressional inquiry into the events surrounding (at a minimum) the attempt to disrupt the electoral college process have gone nowhere. Republicans are insisting on figuring out a way to include Antifa and/or Black Lives Matter in the proceedings to protect the sensibilities of True Believers.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has, in my opinion, already gone too far in giving GOP legislators a chance to protect Dear Leader.
Via Greg Sargent at the Washington Post:
The entire point of the GOP demand for an investigation into left-wing extremism is to derail any accounting that clarifies the central role in inciting the violence played by Trump — as well as his lies about the election, and Republican complicity in feeding those lies — in inciting the violence.
In short, the Republican demand is that we must investigate extremism on both sides, and create the vague impression of shared responsibility for the horrible breakdown that occurred that day, or not investigate the causes of that breakdown at all.
At this point I’m afraid we’ll have to let the history of this very sad event be determined by what happens in the legal system. Over 400 people have already been charged with various offenses arising from the day’s mayhem, and over the weekend there were reports suggesting that another 100 are going to face charges.
What isn’t likely to come out of trials and pleadings will be any accountability for the actions of the Former Guy and his enablers. Only the foot soldiers will pay a price, and while they should see a day or five in court, the bigger issue of the threat to democracy will likely fal by the wayside.
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Let the whining begin! On the eve of his hundredth day as President, Joe Biden will be addressing a joint session of Congress on Wednesday.
Republicans are going to be mighty pissed off about being denied the opportunity to smuggle in Holocaust deniers and QAnon cranks into the audience.
From the Washington Post:
Members and senators won’t be allowed to bring guests. Biden is expected to have few, if any, guests aside from first lady Jill Biden and second gentleman Doug Emhoff. Those in the chamber will be spread out, with some members on the House floor and others seated in the gallery.
No cabinet members are expected to attend, and just one Supreme Court justice, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., is expected. Gen. Mark A. Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, will represent the military.
There will likely be only 200 people total in the chamber, according to a person involved in the planning. That’s a fraction of the 1,600 people normally in attendance for the president’s address to Congress.
The framing of the TV shots of his speech will have historical significance. Behind the President will be two women: Vice President Kamala Harris and Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
As to content, expect a run down of the administration’s accomplishments and a call to arms to energize supporters over the next hundred days as Biden’s agenda works its way through the legislative process.
Biden over the past year has often taken inspiration from Roosevelt, attempting to usher in far-reaching government programs. But he also has a long record of quoting from the New Deal Democrat in a way that he could again turn toward next week.
“As Franklin D. Roosevelt said during the recovery from the Great Depression just four words are important,” Biden said, in delivering a response to Reagan’s State of the Union address in 1983. “These four words: It can be done.”
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Finally, a few thoughts on the significance and process of lying as a form of garnering political power.
As Federico Finchelstein explains in his book A Brief History of Fascist Lies, some fascists understand they are lying in the sense they know their lies do not correspond to the factual world, but they believe their lies are in service to a higher truth.
This bit of truth-telling comes by way of a blog and Twitter thread by Teri Kanefield:
Given that the fascist view is that people are hierarchical and those at the bottom are constantly seeking to displace those at the top, it makes sense that they reject democracy. Finchelstein says that fascists identified existing democracy as a lie because they don’t believe that electoral representation can truly represent the desires of the people. They think only the leader (who expresses this higher truth) can represent the people.
Democracy, which seeks to treat all people equally, directly contradicts the world view that there is a hierarchy among people and races with people at the bottom trying to replace and dominate the people at the top.
There are religious overtones to fascist lies — they come close to worshipping the leader who articulates what they feel to be a transcendent truth. Finchelstein says that fascism “denounces self-awareness and puts in its place a Godly truth supposedly emanating from a purified self.”
https://twitter.com/Teri_Kanefield/status/1386332362221314054?s=20
The solution to all this, as she points out, has little to do with arguing over facts/truth and everything to do with mobilizing. Yes, for example, forty-something percent of Republican men are buying into those “higher truths,” but when you look at the totality of the population we’re only talking about ten percent.
The problem with this higher truth crap is that it’s tantamount to religion; it fills a void and allows believers to feel as though they have some control over things. So they vote. And Tweet. And donate money to GOP fundraising scams that skim most of the dough off the top.
So, if enough of the remaining ninety percent go to polls, or get involved in some fashion, these lies don’t have the same weight the media would have us believe they do.
To be clear, I’m not saying you shouldn’t argue over alternative facts with your crazy uncle. If it makes you happy, go for it. Maybe somebody else not so committed who’s listening will be persuaded.
But realize that arguing with the faithful isn’t the same as political organizing, which means reaching out to otherwise uncommitted people to convince them to act.
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https://twitter.com/BMeiselas/status/1386498721555251201?s=20
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