The Dangers of Newspeak Are Very Real Thanks to Trump and His Fake and Fraudulent Persona
In the political world, this year has been a torturous one since DJ Trump became president, because it's a constant assault on our senses. It's like a case of a deranged person or a ludicrous ogre that you normally would dismiss and not bother with him. The evidence is so overwhelming of who he is that you want to stop paying attention, except in this case you can't because he is in the highest office of the land.
How many times are you going to bother with someone advancing the flat earth theory, or insult your decency? You can't reason with such person. I find that I want to forget his bad behavior and insulate myself. I'm a progressive liberal and I couldn't possibly support a Republican, but this is beyond strict partisanship--it's about the incompetency of the person who occupies the White House.
We have reached a point where we're losing common ground with reality. We have to have shared facts in order to have a conversation and a debate. We also have to have shared trust in the institutions that bind our society, from the judiciary, to the media, to the electoral process, to the scientific methodology, and everything in between. [Here's a piece in the New Yorker. The Distrust Trump Relies Upon] Unfortunately tribalism is eroding such trust. The tribal leaders message is the only true one, whereas the rest is "fake news."
Losing this common ground makes it easier for the fake news originators to put out their garbage. Curbing fake news isn't easy though if many people don't care (due to tribalism) or don't know how to evaluate a news item. Accuracy and quality are necessary in reporting the news, because it gives us the necessary common ground to have discussions and make decisions.
Having freedom of speech has its price, and fake new is one such cost. The same goes for democracy and all sorts of freedoms. They have to be exercised prudently, or at least there has to be a big majority of the population that has the ability to evaluate the news and the messenger. Otherwise, it's a recipe for authoritarianism. Our democracy depends on shared facts and a consensus on the legitimacy of our institutions.
Here's how John Oliver [in his latest show of 2017] summarizes what Trump has been doing. One is being an expert troll, another is "what about-ism" which is deflection, and the other is whatever he doesn't like is fake news. He's not held to any standard, from the meaning of words, to statements, to actions. There is a constant assault on reason and truth. This is, again, not about politics or ideology, but about a person who is not qualified and trolled his way to the highest office. Many dictators rode to power on popular support. We have to keep fighting this trolling, this assault on reason and truth.
This from a 12/23/2017 NYT editorial also summarizes Trump's persona:
As president, Trump employs the same charlatan’s gibberish that served him well as the owner of a failed casino and a fraudulent “university.” He says “terrific,” “phenomenal” and “incredible” to describe a routine meeting, or someone he just met. His favorite words for those who cross him are “loser,” “moron” and “lightweight.” As he explained last year, “I know words — I have the best words.”
Of late, Trump is down to a single best word to describe himself — “I.” He puts it in quotes, just like that. From a tweet in which he was trying to make down into up, on the loss he suffered with the Alabama Senate race, Trump wrote: ‘I also predicted “I” would win.’ Oh, I, me, mine!
“Liar,” as applied to Trump, is something that can be quantifiably proven. A mere 4 percent of the president’s public statements — 4 in 100! — have been rated true by PolitiFact.
Trump may be the greatest, most terrific, incredible fake person who coned his way to the top.
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