Republican Intransigence is Explicit

Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell said yesterday that senate republicans will oppose the infrastructure bill that Biden is working to put together. McConnell flatly stated that the bill “is not going to get support from our side.” So much for compromise and bipartisanship. At least the democratic party does not have to waste any time trying to reach across the vast partisan gulf to see if any republican senators might be interested in cooperating. 

Forbes magazine summarized the situation like this: “Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on Thursday pledged to wage a brutal, partisan fight over President Joe Biden’s $2 trillion infrastructure proposal, the latest sign that Democrats will likely have to resort to reconciliation in order to get it through Congress.”

There you have it. The fascist GOP (FGOP) is going to wage a brutal, partisan fight. What a non-surprise.

Polling indicates that the public is generally supportive of fixing infrastructure and certain tax increases to pay for it. One recent poll indicated that: 

• Democrats were 41 points more likely than Republicans to support the $3 trillion infrastructure plan funded by tax increases on high-earners and corporations, 73% to 32%.

• 57% of voters say they’d be more likely to support Biden’s infrastructure plan if it were funded by tax increases on those making over $400,000.

• 47% of voters say they’d be more likely to support the $3 trillion proposal if it were funded by increases to the corporate tax rate.

Another source commented on the proposed size of the spending bill: “Notably, respondents were polled on funding for a $3 trillion infrastructure plan, whereas Biden is reportedly planning $4 trillion of spending in two parts, and debuted the $2 trillion first part on Wednesday.”

So, once again, the FGOP leadership opposes what most Americans are willing to support. Disconnects between the republican leadership demands and public opinion desires seem to be happening with some frequency. That has been the case for some years now. 

Maybe more people will start drifting away from the FGOP as they come to realize just how self-interested republican elites and donors are at the expense of everyone else and the public interest. That point has been made here before and, because some things just bear repeating, I'm making it again.

Finland's Defense Against the Dark Arts

CNN reports that Finland, a country under relentless Russian propaganda dark free speech attacks,[1] is learning to defend itself. The dark arts self-defense program the Finnish government has developed is being taught to school children and adults.

CNN writes:

The initiative is just one layer of a multi-pronged, cross-sector approach the country is taking to prepare citizens of all ages for the complex digital landscape of today – and tomorrow. The Nordic country, which shares an 832-mile border with Russia, is acutely aware of what’s at stake if it doesn’t.

Finland has faced down Kremlin-backed propaganda campaigns ever since it declared independence from Russia 101 years ago. But in 2014, after Moscow annexed Crimea and backed rebels in eastern Ukraine, it became obvious that the battlefield had shifted: information warfare was moving online.

As the trolling ramped up in 2015, President Sauli Niinisto called on every Finn to take responsibility for the fight against false information. A year later, Finland brought in American experts to advise officials on how to recognize fake news, understand why it goes viral and develop strategies to fight it. The education system was also reformed to emphasize critical thinking.

This ain't Finland: Not surprisingly, America is a completely different kettle of multicultural fish. Americans generally do not believe they are susceptible to dark free speech. Political partisans generally do believe the political opposition definitely is susceptible. Most on each side firmly believe the other is deluded, deceived and/or just plain lying.

In commenting on the CNN report, Steven Novella at Neurologica makes this sobering point:

In 2012 the Texas GOP had this in their platform:

Knowledge-Based Education – We oppose the teaching of Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) (values clarification), critical thinking skills and similar programs that are simply a relabeling of Outcome-Based Education (OBE) (mastery learning) which focus on behavior modification and have the purpose of challenging the student’s fixed beliefs and undermining parental authority.

They literally opposed teaching critical thinking because it might challenge fixed beliefs and authority figures. This attitude is likely not uncommon, just rarely so explicitly stated. What I fear is that any move to teach media literacy in the public schools will be fraught with political manipulation and pushback. It can easily be presented as an attempt to promote one political view over another. The challenge is essentially to teach politics in a politically neutral way. It can be done, but it is tricky. It’s a perilous path that seems to have a high likelihood of failure. But we need to try – we need, in fact, to make it a priority.

What Novella describes is an attitude that is common on America's political right. It accords with a belief by some social scientists, e.g., Johnathan Haidt, that most conservatives highly value respect for authority. Apparently, that conservative moral foundation or core value is so powerful that it can and does lead some conservatives to actually believe that critical thinking skills are subversive. But, one arguably can consider wrecking false beliefs and undermining partisan loyalty with facts, truths and sound reasoning to be subversive.

If nothing else, the human mind with its moral-emotional functioning is a strange, fascinating beast, to say the least. The question is whether the beast can control itself enough to maintain modern civilization and long-term human well-being. That is an open question. If past performance is an indicator of future returns, prospects don't look so good at the moment. What could change that bad prognosis is getting serious about building defenses against the dark arts, even if the risk of failure is high.

Footnote:
1. Dark free speech: Constitutionally protected (1) lies and deceit to distract, confuse and demoralize, (2) unwarranted opacity to hide corruption, and inconvenient truths and facts, and (3) unwarranted emotional manipulation (i) to obscure the truth and blind the mind to lies and deceit, and (ii) to provoke irrational, reason-killing emotions and feelings, including fear, hate, anger, disgust, distrust, intolerance, cynicism, pessimism and all kinds of bigotry including racism. (my label and definition)

B&B orig: 5/31/19; DP: 6/3/19

A Political Conundrum; What's a Fascist?; What About Trolls?

This came up the other day. 

My interlocutor (SNOWFLAKE):

you and I both have the same problem when posting issues about guns, we are both very protective of our forums and tend to ban people who troll, lie, insult, deflect and make a mockery of any of our threads. 

having said that, unfortunately, it also means we are primarily engaging with like minded people who agree with how we post the gun control issue, so no one to get down and dirty with. 

I have, and still do, go to less moderated sites so I can get into a pissing contest with gun-nuts, it usually doesn't end well, and I leave out of disgust.

I think my point is, we can lament the gun culture till the cows come home, but as long as we are unable to dissuade someone who believes guns are a God given right, we won't get very far. 

this is the whole point I was making on a previous thread, we need the D,s to start winning more elections and by wider margins. though a lot of our regulars took me to task for suggesting we play dirty tricks like the R's do, what other choice do we have?

Education, facts, charts, civil discussion has led to NO change in the gun culture.
If I was running the D's I would not even raise the subject of guns, I would play the same game the R's are playing, a lot of thoughts and prayers, but keep my intentions to myself, and focus on beating Covid, getting Americans back to work, getting rid of the filibuster, and tightening up the border, so that when 2022 rolls around, hopefully keep both the house and senate, and when 2024 win big in all three branches.

ONCE the D's have a filibuster free senate, the house and the Presidency, THEN is the time to ram through gun legislation and ram it through hard. and do it right away.

But we don't tip our hands when dealing with foreign enemies so why should we with the R's?

My response

At present, my enthusiasm for engaging with folks who troll and insult is very low. As you know in the three months before the 2020 election, I went to large conservative websites to try to engage rationally and respectfully. Within about 6-7 weeks, all seven of the sites I targeted blocked all of my comments. I was never banned, just blocked somehow. My guess is that the sites blocked me because of the high number of downvotes I got from conservatives on those sites. Nearly all of the folks on those sites hated my kind of politics, facts and reasoning. Based on the insults they threw at me, I think most of 'em hated me too.

Fascism: (Wikipedia) a form of far-right, authoritarian ultranationalism characterized by dictatorial power, forcible suppression of opposition and strong regimentation of society and of the economy; (Merriam-Webster) (1) a political philosophy, movement, or regime that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition; (2) a tendency toward or actual exercise of strong autocratic or dictatorial control

So, what about trolls and insulters on our sites? I ban them because they are disrespectful and cannot be reasoned with. It is false balancing to even allow their crackpot motivated reasoning, false facts, false truths and insults. What good does that do? It just foments irrational emotional reactions and that is a mental reason- and civility-killer. Minds never change, but people do get pissed off. 

Most American conservatives who engage in politics online have been radicalized to the point that I consider them to be fascists at least by intent and sometimes by actions, or close enough to fascist intent to be called fascist. Before the 1/6 coup attempt, I used the label authoritarian radical right, which is a term that some experts who I respect also used. But after 1/6, the label fascist seemed to be more accurate. A few experts also use that term now.

Demagoguery: political activity or practices that seek support by appealing to the desires and prejudices of ordinary people rather than by using rational argument

Wikipedia on demagogues: Demagogues have appeared in democracies since ancient Athens. They exploit a fundamental weakness in democracy: because ultimate power is held by the people, it is possible for the people to give that power to someone who appeals to the lowest common denominator of a large segment of the population. Demagogues have usually advocated immediate, forceful action to address a crisis while accusing moderate and thoughtful opponents of weakness or disloyalty. Many demagogues elected to high executive office have unraveled constitutional limits on executive power and tried to convert their democracy into a dictatorship, sometimes successfully.

It is also the case that trolls and insulters usually engage in demagoguery. That is anti-democratic and pro-authoritarian, which I judge to be immoral, or if there is malice in it, evil.

That mostly why I am going to keep banning trolls and insulters. I try to keep borderline folks engaged by asking for adherence to the rules of etiquette here. That sometimes works. 

I'm not sure that is a satisfying response. For now, that's about all I can come up with. Just engaging in this kind of discourse is a bummer for me.

Easter Bunnies in lockdown means Easter is postponed in 2021

 (NOT EDITED) Year 2021 will be a bad-egg Easter because of global lockdowns affecting normal celebrations! Jesus will not be crucified on Good Friday this year; hence he will not reappear on Easter Sunday as usual, and will certainly not be appearing in front of Maria Magdalena on Easter Monday because she is in lockdown too!

However, the pandemic has much worse reverberations for the modern world! Easter Bunnies will not be allowed to run wild in the Christian part of our world because they have been put in lockdown too.

Bunny producers hoping for mega-business with their bunnies have been put on furlough payments by major bunny lover, Boris Johnson, who feels Easter Bunnies, and their producers, are spiffing Eggs, and need to be saved from liquidation, not eradication, just because of a stupid pandemic which was not the UK's fault anyway. Although they mutated the whole thing!

This year's bunnies will not end up in rabbit-stew pots, they will be kept alive until next year's Easter celebrations can return to normality with the blessing of the Pope, who is also in a Vatican lockdown, thank the heavens for that, at least Covid-19 has something positive to offer.

As for Jesus, he will be attending his 'Last Supper' for the 2022nd time next year, but only if he and his disciples test negative, wear masks, keep social-distancing and, forgive Judas!

AMEN!! Rabbit, Rabbit, Rabbit! Chas and Dave please give us an encore!

https://www.thespoof.com/spoof-news/uk/152777/easter-bunnies-in-lockdown-means-easter-is-postponed-in-2021

"Donald Trump will be back in office in August!"

 

MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell's latest rant is too bonkers for even Steve Bannon to handle

MyPillow CEO and fervent President Donald Trump supporter Mike Lindell declared on Friday that Trump will be re-installed as president come August during a podcast appearance on Steve Bannon's "WarRoom Pandemic" program. The far-fetched remark caught wind and was quickly mocked on Twitter midday on Monday. 

"What I'm talking about, Steve [Bannon], is what I've been doing since Jan. 9th," the pillow maven said with authority. "All the evidence I have - everything is going to go before the Supreme Court, and the election of 2020 is going bye-bye. It was an attack by other countries, communism coming in," he continued. "I don't know what they're going to do with that after they pull it down."

"Hold on a sec, hold on," Bannon tried to interrupt before Lindell shouted out: "Donald Trump will be back in office in August!"

https://www.salon.com/2021/03/29/mypillow-ceo-mike-lindells-latest-rant-is-too-bonkers-for-even-steve-bannon-to-handle/

https://twitter.com/i/status/1376546217270910981

Conservative Opposition Strategy to HR1: Winning is the Only Moral Imperative

Charles Koch, not trying to influence anyone or anything?

Hardly

The leaked GOP anti-voting rights conference call

A leaked conference call provides a precious and rare glimpse at how expert conservative propagandists see issues in politics and tell conservatives to talk about them. This call was never intended for the public to hear. From the call, it is crystal clear that what the public wants is of no concern other than something to be flipped to support what the fascist GOP and its billionaire dark money donors want. The only concern is winning and how to do that in the face of opposed majority public opinion. The call was about public support for HR1, the bill the democratic party wants to pass to protect voting rights. Conservative dark money donors, especially Charles Koch, hate HR1 because they hate political opposition. They really and truly are fascists.

The New Yorker posted the 10-minute call here. It is well worth 10 minutes to get a feel for just how ice cold and self-centered these people are. They are intelligent, ruthless and sophisticated. They are acutely aware of the crucial importance of lies, refusal to step into losing frames (discussed here before) and spinning to lead people to false conclusions about HR1. One can reasonably believe that this cynical, anti-democratic reasoning applies to all other contested issues for most or nearly all radical right conservatives.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

For people who don't want to listen to the call. A couple of points merit mention:

1. The propagandists' poll research indicates that one of the most effective tactics for weakening public support, including majority conservative voter support, for HR1 is to claim that now is not the time because there are more urgent things to deal with. 

2. The host of the call, Kyle McKenzie, the research director for the Koch-funded radical right advocacy group Stand Together (maybe better named Divide and Conquer), pointed out to the conservatives and Republican congressional staffers on the call that the bottom line was unfavorable. “When presented with a very neutral description [of HR1], people were generally supportive. .... The most worrisome part is that conservatives were actually as supportive as the general public was when they read the neutral description.” McKenzie warned the audience that “there’s a large, very large, chunk of conservatives who are supportive of these types of efforts.” Clearly, neutral descriptions of HR1 are not going to be forthcoming from the fascist GOP or its propaganda outlets.

3. HR1’s opponents would have to rely on Senate Republicans to use “under-the-dome-type strategies,” which legislative maneuvers under Congress’s roof, such as the filibuster to stop the bill. The GOP research McKenzie relied indicates that turning public opinion against HR1 would be “incredibly difficult.” He warned that the worst thing conservatives could do would be to try to “engage with the other side [against the argument that the legislation] stops billionaires from buying elections.” That is an example of a politician or advocate refusing to step into a losing frame. The framing of billionaires buying elections generated the most support by people for HR1 because it was the argument that was the “most convincing, and it riled them up the most.”

4. McKenzie said that the Koch-founded group had invested substantial money “to see if we could find any message that would activate and persuade conservatives on this issue.” The research indicated that “an A.O.C. message we tested,” claiming that the bill would help Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez achieve her goal of holding “people in the Trump Administration accountable” by identifying big donors helped undermine conservative support for HR1 somewhat. The research indicated that attaching the phrase “cancel culture” to the bill, by portraying it as silencing conservative voices, was not effective in undermining support for HR1. 

This call shows how money can buy sophisticated research to identify what spin (partisan motivated reasoning), lies and calculated silences in the face of loser frames (~lies of omission?) are best to win support for what the big donors want despite contrary public opinion and despite what is good for democracy or the public interest. 

The morality clearly reflected in this leaked conference call is basically the same as mainstream business morality, or immorality. Specifically, there is no morality other than winning, wealth and power. For most corporations, the public interest, democracy and most everything else are not particularly important considerations, maybe unless people strike back.[2]   

Footnotes:

1. Koch periodically claims he does not want to be involved in politics. He has claimed he is not looking for more profit from political influence. Those are blatant lies. Koch is one of the most influential conservative influencers in America today, probably the most influential. Koch is a stone-cold pathological liar, just like the ex-president. Last November, Fortune magazine wrote this: 

“Boy, did we screw up!,” wrote Koch, now 85, in his new book, Believe in People: Bottom-Up Solutions for a Top-Down World. “What a mess!” 

Koch and his brother were also largely involved in shaping the country’s response to climate change. Through Americans for Prosperity, they got over 400 members of Congress to sign a pledge to vote against climate change legislation that does not include equivalent tax cuts. In California, they were influential in rolling back emission regulations, and between 1997 and 2018 they spent $145,555,197 financing nearly 100 groups that attacked climate change science.

Note that. The Kochs spent over $145 million between 1997 and 2018 to oppose environmental regulations. It is fair to say that Charles Koch is an enemy of the people and the public interest.

2. The New York Times writes today: 

As Black Lives Matter protesters filled the streets last summer, many of the country’s largest corporations expressed solidarity and pledged support for racial justice. But now, with lawmakers around the country advancing restrictive voting rights bills that would have a disproportionate impact on Black voters, corporate America has gone quiet.

Last week, as Georgia Republicans rushed to pass a sweeping law restricting voter access, Atlanta’s biggest corporations, including Delta, Coca-Cola and Home Depot, declined to weigh in, offering only broad support for voting rights. The muted response — coming from companies that last year promised to support social justice — infuriated activists, who are now calling for boycotts.

Offering vague broad support for matters of social conscience, e.g., voting rights, is how businesses weasel out of moral values other than profit and power, a point that has been discussed here before.