When I read the news these days, I often just shake my head, or yell and wave my arms, and say: What is wrong with THEM? You know, “them” - the crazies that think that our beloved chief leader is a saint or something, while I see him as a narcissistic, crazy idiot. How is this possible?
I have a few recent insights on this. They are NOT crazy, not stupid, just "uninformed."
Instagram Example
There was an “instagram” or “Facebook reel” which the system fed me. It has a pleasant looking gentleman trying to explain this problem. He was very sympathetic and I think he nailed it.
Watch this: https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=pfbid02cz4bFebsGy9w6aWLZXBY4ofixbkk7unv79PA3Er2iTwoY1HMWjALWVtT7k7xr4Q2l&id=1196559125 Click on the little speaker to unmute.
He described two cases.
The first was the story of the deportation of Kilmer Abrego Garcia. This was the young man sent to prison and extradited to Salvador with no shred of evidence against him. Three judges demanded that he be returned. The administration said: “NO.” He felt that this case must be seen by all sides as simply outrageous. This event was widely published in the general press. So our guy went to FOX news and searched for that story. It simply was not there - nowhere to be found. Conservative media simply IGNORES the bad stuff - period.
Biased News Ignores Negative Stories
If you are locked to one biased news source, you may never even be aware of the °other" perspective, even if a major event happens which is widely reported.
“Factual” Lists Can be Tailored
His second example was about a video story that claimed that 9/11 was faked. The amazing thing about the video is that everything it cites is a fact. It was the way it linked the bits together, and the conclusions drawn that created the lie. You could fact check the parts and find nothing wrong.
Way back, I had a good friend who was always praising our crazy President in his first term for all of his accomplishments. When I looked at the list he shared - they were all true. Someone went to a lot of trouble to put that together. They must have known what they were doing - but their audience did not.
News Suppression
2026 02 10 - I just noticed a news article that TikTok was taken over by some billionaires, and every single reference to the ICE stuff in MN has disappeared. An AI (Gemini) search confirmed that. Try it yourself.
Suppression Reports: Following the finalization of the deal in late January 2026, users reported that content regarding specific topics—including news about Minnesota (specifically regarding federal immigration enforcement or protests)—was being censored, restricted, or failing to gain views.
User Reactions: Numerous users reported that searching for certain political or local news, such as "Minneapolis live," yielded no results or stalled, leading to accusations that the platform is suppressing content critical of new owners or their allies.
Prayer Breakfast
The next one was an episode of Podcast Save America that a friend suggested I watch. These two folk were pointing out the shocking behavior of our chief leader at the National Prayer Breakfast. They showed clips of him saying one stupid thing after another. They made a comment on a clip, and then moved on to the next one. The headline read: Bizarre Speech Stuns Crowd.
https://youtu.be/fAAB-2X1cyo?si=02GnBxq-aRJXXouC
Except, the crowd at the breakfast was NOT shocked, NOT stunned. I noticed that when they were playing a clip the audience was supportive - laughing, applauding. So I watched the whole speech, over an hour. https://youtu.be/QSUsXH3Ft6I?si=p_gjhul3QvUk4IIU
This version includes a glowing introduction given to him by his “religious” something or other appointee. The introduction was amazing. This lady is clearly in love with Mr. Trump for his “religious views.” She thinks he is a real Christian. And all of the audience seemed to agree with her. She cites some “private” generosity, some “hidden” positive acts of empathy. Those things are likely true - but they ignore everything else he does and represents. He does things just for the present audience - whoever it happens to be.
Then we go to the main event. Over an hour of rambling comments - barely coherent. Followed by a standing ovation. I am thinking this man has lost his marbles, and they are applauding the event! They love the guy. They literally do not care what he says. If it is offensive, they treat it as sarcasm or a joke.
Lesson learned
The good thing is that this helps me understand just a bit what is going on with my “friends” and family who are in this group. It is not stupidity. It is a bit of ignorance, a lot of affection, a real need to get an affirmation for their values in a world they see as hostile to them.
Now What?
OK - so a glimmer of understanding. But how on earth does one reach through this cloud of a lack of information and bias to alert them to the craziness? I have no blessed idea.
One Suggestion - Don't Talk about Politics
The best collection of research along these lines I have found is the book, Don’t Talk about Politics. You can learn a bit more about that in this introductory podcast cited below. This is a podcast of the book launch. It will give you an overall view of the science behind the author’s recommendations.
I highly recommend the book - but the °solutions° are NOT simple, by any means.. Talking with people is simply a waste of time. Debating someone with ideas will accomplish absolutely nothing. You have to build social infrastructure: do, act, join, etc.
The author is Sarah Stein Lubrano. She has a website, and links to her media events.
https://www.sarahsteinlubrano.com/media
Hang in there. I’m pulling for you, and we are all in this together - us and even THEM, for good or ill.
AFTER I pretty much finished this, a couple of my friends pointed out that MOST of the US voting public are simply not aware that we are having any serious problems. Ask your local AI. Mine told me the following based on some recent surveys::
Congressional Control: As of late 2024, only about 55%–56% of U.S. adults correctly identified which parties controlled the House and Senate.
News Consumption: Pew Research Center reports that only 36% of U.S. adults followed the news "all or most of the time" in 2025, a sharp decline from 51% in 2016.
Uninformed Voting Rates: A 2023 large-scale study found "alarming rates" of uninformed voting, estimated at over 42%, which can rise to 56% when factors like overconfidence or "expressive voting" are present.
Functional Understanding: Some analysts argue that while 70% of Americans can recognize major political names or terms, only about 20% have enough detailed understanding to make rational, evidence-based decisions about complex policy actions.
No comments:
Post a Comment