The Trump Horror Story Continues

Many articles from professional media continue to show how incompetent and corrupt the president and his administration are. The Washington Post writes about the $517 billion in small-business loans the Small Business Administration has made with relief funds from the federal Paycheck Protection Program. That program was intended to help people stay at work and be paid during the pandemic. The taxpayer-funded program has been swarmed by crooks, liars and thieves who blew the loan money for new cars, trips to Las Vegas and so forth. WaPo writes in an opinion piece:

“Those anecdotes are sketches of the problem involving the Trump administration’s handling of the PPP. They are small tales in a larger emerging horror story.

A Post in-depth analysis of data on $517 billion in emergency small-business loans handed out by President Trump’s team at the Small Business Administration uncovered errors so numerous that White House boasts of the PPP’s economic impact are nothing more than spin and hot air.

The analysis found the SBA claimed that many companies had ‘retained’ far more workers than they actually employed. ‘In some cases,’ the article said, ‘the agency’s jobs claims for entire industries surpasses the total number of workers in those sectors.’

Looking closely at more than 875,000 of the borrowers, the analysis found that “zero” jobs were supported, or no information was listed at all.

So Trump’s claim that 51 million jobs were “supported” by the PPP is unsupported by facts. 

Trinity Episcopal Church outside Houston retained, praise the Lord, more than 500 jobs, thus saith the SBA. The church says it has 12 paid staffers.

And according to the SBA, the manufacturer International Dunnage of Thunderbolt, Ga., saved more than 500 jobs. Not so. The company said it has just seven employees and two owners. “I don’t know where you got the 500,” owner David Crenshaw said in an email to The Post.

The Trump administration is where, Mr. Crenshaw.”

Believe it or not, the crooks, liars and thieves actually include team Trump’s ‘best’ people in the Small Business Administration itself. Sometimes, the SBA just makes stuff up about saving non-existent jobs. Some of the saved jobs are fake, but the tax dollars aren’t.

But wait, there is even more -- we’re lost in the ether!

The WaPo article goes on to point out that it is even worse than just this. Analysis of the loans indicate that nearly all are going to white-owned businesses, in part because banks already have these people as customers. Apparently, banks are not interested in helping business owners of color with the complicated paperwork.

As WaPo puts it, “what makes this spectacle all the more galling is the lack of effective oversight and accountability by either Congress or federal regulatory agencies. Business complaints and critical reports such as The Post’s analysis are lost in the ether. .... As Congress unleashed $2 trillion to deal with the coronavirus pandemic and questions were being raised about the steps needed to prevent fraud and abuse and how to track the money — to know where it is going — Trump royally declared, ‘I am the oversight.’ That’s it. Pray we make it to Election Day.”

Other sources in addition to WaPo are reporting on fraud in the PPP program. The scope of the fraud is not yet clear, but it is beginning to look to be widespread.

What are they thinking, or are they?

By now, who and what the president is should be clear. He is a chronic liar, a crook, stunningly incompetent, completely immoral, an extremely powerful enabler and defender of corruption and lies, and probably a traitor working for Putin. All of that, maybe excepting the Putin treason allegation, should be clear to most people by now.

Despite that, most of the president’s supporters believe that little or none of it is true. If they did, many or most supporters presumably would no longer support him. This seems to reflect reality. The relentless propaganda, spin and lies from the president and his enablers about himself and his actions has created a fake reality that millions of people actually believe is true. To them, truth is lies and lies are truth.

That is how poisoned, deceived and dangerous that a significant slice of American society has become.

PERSISTENT INTERNET TROLLS

AH, we all have to deal with them, whether here, other platforms, Facebook, what have you.

WHAT has always struck me as ODD, is that trolls seem to be oblivious to the fact that they can easily be spotted and that they make themselves laughable by being SO obvious.

HOWEVER, for the sake of those who still can't recognize trolling in themselves or in others:
What is trolling?

https://edu.gcfglobal.org/en/thenow/what-is-trolling/1/

HIGHLIGHTS:

A troll is Internet slang for a person who intentionally tries to instigate conflict, hostility, or arguments in an online social community. Platforms targeted by trolls can include the comment sections of YouTube, forums, or chat rooms.

Trolls often use inflammatory messages to provoke emotional responses out of people, disrupting otherwise civil discussion. Trolling can occur anywhere that has an open area where people can freely post their thoughts and opinions.

When trolls sense that they’re getting an emotional response out of someone, they usually won’t stop until they’ve gotten their victim sufficiently riled up.

Trolls are also known for their outlandish and outrageous claims. They will often make ridiculous statements about the subject at hand, again with the expectation that they will get an emotional response out of people.

Typically, the best thing to do is ignore the troll. 

(as an aside, something some of us are very poor at doing, we feed them by responding)

On well-moderated forums, an administrator will catch trolling early and ban the offending user or delete trolling comments, depending on how offensive they are.

The Crackpot Conspiracy Mindset Migrates into the Radical Mainstream Right

Crackpot conspiracy theory candidate Marjorie Taylor Greene 
spewing her false vision of reality

American society has been degenerating for decades, significantly driven by a relentless barrage of dark free speech from conservatives and populists. The trend toward social lunacy accelerated noticeably since the president came on the scene in 2016. He relied more heavily and blatantly on dark free speech than probably any major American politician at least since the 1960s.

The New York Times reports on what appears to be mainstream conservative and populist acceptance of unhinged conspiracy theories and radical extremist political ideology. A crackpot brigade is beginning to rise as a force in GOP ranks. Facts, reality and sound reasoning are basically absent from this new low. The NYT writes:

“A Republican Senate candidate recently declared herself ‘one of the thousands of digital soldiers’ in service of QAnon, a convoluted pro-Trump conspiracy theory about a ‘deep state’ of child-molesting Satanist traitors plotting against the president. A congressional candidate in Colorado who made approving comments about QAnon bested a five-term Republican incumbent in a primary last month.

And then there is Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Georgia Republican who is perhaps the most unabashedly pro-QAnon candidate for Congress and has drawn a positive tweet from President Trump. She recently declared that QAnon was ‘a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to take this global cabal of Satan-worshiping pedophiles out.’ 

More than two years after QAnon, which the F.B.I. has labeled a potential domestic terrorism threat, emerged from the troll-infested corners of the internet, the movement’s supporters are morphing from keyboard warriors into political candidates. They have been urged on by Mr. Trump, whose own espousal of conspiracy theories and continual railing against the political establishment have cleared a path for QAnon candidates. 

And even as party leaders publicly distance themselves from the movement, they are quietly supporting some QAnon-linked candidates — demonstrating the thin line they are trying to walk between radical elements among their base and the moderate voters they need to win over.”

The NYT article goes on to point out that there are maybe a few dozen candidates in this crackpot brigade, most of whom lost their primary challenges. The few who won their primary races are currently expected to lose their elections in November. Crackpotter claims include conspiracy theories that that Jews, including George Soros, control the political system and vaccines, baseless claims of child trafficking rings, false assertions that the coronavirus risk is vastly overstated, and nutty racist theories about Obama.

As usual, the GOP is morally bankrupt and intentionally deceptive about their intentions and actions. GOP leaders publicly distance themselves from the crackpot movement, but quietly support some QAnon candidates. They want to appeal to both radical conservatives and populists and moderate voters. GOP leaders have decided that they need both the radical crackpots and at least some persuadable moderates to keep the senate. The RNC and Jim Jordan has supported some crackpot candidates with cash donations. There is plenty of dark free speech, lies, deceit, BS and irrational emotional manipulation all around.

The NYT also points out that there are some democrats and independents in this movement. The unifying theme seems to be hatred of the political establishment. For the GOP, that means the existing establishment is unacceptable and it will heave to either go or fall in line with the new fake reality nutters. Since the president did that to the GOP establishment in 2016, maybe it is not unreasonable to think that this equally toxic movement can do it some more.

Something is definitely wrong with America’s political right. It has gone radical crackpot and real scary.

Your thoughts...

(click on / pinch out / or Ctl+ to enlarge)

Give a word or phrase that comes to mind regarding the above collage.  Possible suggestions:

• Non sequiturs
• Empathy
• Lack of empathy
• Irreconcilable differences
• No problem!!
• What's the problem??
• Business as usual
• American exceptionalism
• MAGA-ing
• Total insanity
• Freedom in action
• [Your word or phrase here]

Thanks for posting and recommending.

Moral Rebels: On the Scarcity of Moral Courage

“I do not myself believe that many people do things because they think they are the right thing to do . . . . I do not think that knowledge of what is morally right is motivational in any serious sense for anyone except a handful of saints.” Federal judge Richard Posner commenting on the creeps and characters who traipsed through his court room for decades always pleading their real or imagined innocence, Social Norms, Social Meaning and Economic Analysis of Law: A Comment, 27 J. Legal Studies, 553:560, 1998

“What is morally right is a matter of long-term human survival. The days of pretending that we cannot self-annihilate or that God will intervene to save us from ourselves are illusions. There are two choices with two moral paths, immoral business as usual or a moral, honest and fundamental reassessment for our condition and situation. The reassessment requires real guts, i.e., moral courage. The easy but deadly dangerous way is business as usual.” -- Germaine, July 14, 2020

A BBC article, Why some people risk everything to be whistleblowers, discusses some of the science and reality of what it takes to have moral courage. The BBC refers to people with moral courage as moral rebels. The BBC writes:

"Moral rebels speak up in all types of situations – to tell a bully to cut it out, to confront a friend who uses a racist slur, to report a colleague who engages in corporate fraud. What enables some people to call out bad behavior, even if doing so may have costs? 

First, moral rebels generally feel good about themselves. They tend to have high self-esteem and to feel confident about their own judgment, values and ability. They also believe their own views are superior to those of others, and thus that they have a social responsibility to share those beliefs. 

Moral rebels are also less socially inhibited than others. They aren’t worried about feeling embarrassed or having an awkward interaction. Perhaps most importantly, they are far less concerned about conforming to the crowd. So, when they have to choose between fitting in and doing the right thing, they will probably choose to do what they see as right."

The article goes on to briefly touch on some brain and science stuff, in this case the lateral orbitofrontal cortex. The article asserts that for moral rebels, it generally doesn't feel so bad to feel different than others. Not mattering so much makes it easier for rebels to stand up to social pressure.

The article also comments that what rebels stand up for vary widely. For these people, it is more about standing up to social pressure to stay silent. That pressure can be applied to just about anything. The point is that rebels withstand the social pressure from their family, group or tribe better than most people.

The moral rebel mindset seems to be fostered by having seen moral courage in action. Moral rebels tend to feel empathy and an ability to imagine the world from someone else’s perspective. Getting to know people from different backgrounds helps. The article points out that research data shows that white high school students with more contact with people from different ethnic groups generally have higher levels of empathy. They tend to see people from different minority groups more positively.

The article concludes:

"Finally, moral rebels need particular skills and practice using them. One study found that teenagers who held their own in an argument with their mother, using reasoned arguments instead of whining, pressure or insults, were the most resistant to peer pressure to use drugs or drink alcohol later on. Why? People who have practiced making effective arguments and sticking with them under pressure are better able to use these same techniques with their peers. .... It is possible to develop the ability to stand up to social pressure. In other words, anyone can learn to be a moral rebel."

Why bring this up? Pragmatic rationalism

This article makes a point that's central to understand pragmatic rationalism (PR). One of the most powerful influences on our perceptions of reality, beliefs and behavior is social pressure.[1] The influence is mostly (~98% ?) unconscious and unknown. That was the main point that Peter Berger made in his short 1963 masterpiece, Invitation to Sociology. Berger was blunt about how disruptive this knowledge can be to some people. He felt knowledge of the power of social institutions was so deeply disturbing that he questioned in 1963 whether it should even be taught to college undergraduates, but dismissed it as innocuous because most of us are oblivious creatures because we evolved to be that way:

“What right does any man have to shake the taken-for-granted beliefs of others? Why educate young people to see the precariousness of things they had assumed to be absolutely solid? Why introduce them to the subtle erosion of critical thought? .... the taken-for-granted are far too solidly entrenched in consciousness to be that easily shaken by, say, a couple of sophomore courses. ‘Culture shock’ is not induced that readily.” 

In other words, mindsets rarely change and facts don't usually matter much or at all. Massive shock tends to be what it usually takes. The German people after WWII is an example. They had a real shock. Teaching a couple of sociology courses to undergraduates in the US will not faze them in their rock solid but false beliefs in themselves and their grasp of reality and false sense of mental freedom. Note the point Berger makes, “the subtle erosion of critical thought.” 

Critical thought is a false certainty killer. I know that truth from direct personal experience, and I'm not even much good at it.

At present, PR has no significant chance of gaining significant social influence unless and until society builds institutions that revere and adhere to the core moral values of that anti-ideology ideology, or from a better variant of it than I can envision. From what I can tell, the PR concept is no less radical that what Berger was concerned about teaching to college students. But like the German people after WWII, it just might take a similar shock. That assumes it won't be too late for us to save ourselves. That is an open question.

Or, am I being waaay too self-important, self-righteous and/or otherwise self-deluded?

 Footnote:
1. The most piercing, in-your-face modern arguments about the staggering power of social situation that I am aware of is in an article by legal scholars Don Hanson and David Yosifon, The Situation: An Introduction to the Situational Character, Critical Realism, Power Economics, and Deep Capture. They wrote:

“We have already summarized some of the "evidence that people are inclined to offer dispositionist explanations for behavior instead of situationist ones, and that they make inferences about the characteristics of actors when they would do well to make inferences instead about the characteristics of situations ...." We have also suggested that this fundamental attribution error has not spared the professional and credentialed minds of economists and legal economists-hence, our repeated emphasis on the fact that they too are human. 

Regarding the first question, our gun-to-the-head example makes clear that our dispositionism does occasionally give way to situationism. The example is particularly apt because it appears that we rarely see situation unless the situation is thrust upon us in the form of another hard-to-miss actor such as a person wielding a gun. 

Even a very obvious, controllable, and tangible situational influence-money-is commonly overlooked in favor of dispositionist explanations of behavior. The effects of financial incentives on lay people tend to be understood in terms of stable dispositional proclivities.”

Fundamental attribution error: the tendency for people to under-emphasize situational explanations for an individual's observed behavior while over-emphasizing dispositional and personality-based explanations for their behavior. This effect has been described as "the tendency to believe that what people do reflects who they are".

Social situation rules. People tend to not do who they are. Instead, they tend to do what their social situation dictates they must do. Moral rebels aren't like that at least sometimes in some situations. Sometimes, they have the moral courage to resist their social situation.

COVID-19 Testing and the Trump Administration -- Still a Failure

A New York Times article summarizes the state of testing in the US. According to the NYT, experts estimate that 1.9 million tests per day would be necessary to mitigate the spread of the disease. At present less than one-half that level of testing, about 667,000 per day, is being conducted. Also, there are often delays in getting test results due to backlogs and test reagent shortages.

Experts believe that there should be enough testing capacity for anyone with flu-like symptoms plus an additional 10 people for any symptomatic person who tests positive for the virus. That would require more than double the number of daily tests currently being performed. Estimates for the testing required to suppress the spread of the virus are higher.

The NYT article also indicates that the the percent of tests that come back positive should be at or below 5 percent for at least 14 days before a state or country can safely reopen. The the current positive rate in the US is 9 percent. Lower rates indicate that testing is more widespread and that it is not limited to those with severe symptoms. 

In short, the US testing situation remains a failure.

Administration lies

Trump administration spokespersons continue to falsely portray the situation as a success and rapidly getting better. The administration continues to falsely assert that (1) testing is adequate, and (2) we are informed about the status of the pandemic. Administration spin and lies are intense and sophisticated. The propaganda provides Trump supporters with plenty of talking points to make the pandemic seem overblown and the administration's response seem stellar. An administration spokesman is full of lies, deception, inconsistencies and sleight of hand in an NPR interview this morning.

In short, the president and his administration remains both incompetent and untrustworthy.