Mis-, Dis-, and The Rule of Law

We are drastically uninformed. sometimes by accident, sometimes on purpose.

"Just under 1-in-5 Americans believe the singer Taylor Swift is part of a covert effort to help President Joe Biden win the 2024 election." Dave Pell in Next Draft, quoting a current Monmouth University poll.  

Think about that for minute. Somehow, 20% of Americans believe the conspiracy theory that Taylor Swift represents the so-called “Deep State.” Thankfully, the Monmouth poll also found that “2-in-3 Americans approve of the singer encouraging voter turnout.”

Better for sure, but it still doesn’t excuse the 1-in-5 Americans who are either extremely gullible and susceptible to outrageous helpings of mis-and dis-information, or are simply dedicated to believing, and spreading, false narratives to support their own political wishes, reality be damned. (Studies show that conspiracy theories take flight when reality doesn’t match desires. Essentially meaning that if the truth conflicts with your beliefs, just make up a new “truth” that does.)

Mis-information tends to spread fairly innocently from one social media account to another because the information sits well with preconceived notions that readers really want to be true.

Dis-information spreads purposefully with malintent. It is usually ginned-up by websites, talk radio, cable news, and others on the media-right, then spread rampantly on social media where it begins to sport a sort of truth-by-repetition. Picture the backyard-fence gossip of old having an audience of millions.

Both the Taylor-Travis nonsense, and the rampant ageism surrounding Joe Biden, but not Donald Trump (who is also no spring-chicken), should warn us about the logical fallacy of the all from the any. Sure, Taylor will likely endorse President Biden again, and would have regardless of Travis, and, yes, some 80 year-olds are doddering, but shuffling feet, an occasional memory lapse or stutter are not clear windows into anyone’s mental acuity.

Take poker as microcosm. I play in a weekly game that is peopled by octogenarians, and one nonagenarian. Trust me, if you don’t pay attention, you’ll go home wearing a barrel. Poker, which the California Supreme Court regards as a game of skill, not chance, requires attentiveness, strategy, and tactics like bluffing, misdirection, and the continuing evaluation of your competitors. Any of our older players will eviscerate us younger, supposedly sharper folks, if we’re not careful and make the mistake of underestimating them.

I am not saying that I think having two elderly men as our presidential choices is ideal. I’m just saying prejudice feeds mis- and dis-information. Nonetheless, a choice between a moral, experienced and well-intentioned old man surrounded by subject matter experts, beats an amoral old man who is a convicted fraudster surrounded by miscreants, the way a straight-flush beats two pair.

The former Grifter-in-Chief made quite a show of his disdain for our justice system and the ginormous court-mandated fines levied against him last week. Let’s make a couple of things clear for the uninformed and the misled: the court of public opinion is not a court of law, and try though he will, the Trump bluster on the sidewalk does nothing to reverse a verdict rendered in an actual courtroom.

To continue yammering about the unfairness is a naked attempt to undermine the most well-respected judicial system in the world. The Former Guy is relying on his minions to donate money to support his various legal woes and entanglements. No matter what he says in a rally, juries are composed of everyday people—not political operatives—who are selected at random from the pool of registered voters. When called to jury duty, neither presidential administrations, courts, prosecutors, or defense counselors have any idea what trial these citizens may be called to adjudicate. To maintain that the entire system is rigged from stem-to-stern is ridiculous on its face. No one entity has enough insight, let alone power, to create and enact this proposed conspiracy. We can dispense with this silliness by recalling a classic Homer Simpsonism, “Our desperate plea is nonnegotiable.”

The judge in the New York fraud case said of the Trumps, “Their complete lack of contrition and remorse borders on pathological.” New York’s Attorney General reminded us that no one is above the law, even, or perhaps especially, when they think they are: “Today, justice has been served. This is a tremendous victory for this state, this nation and for everyone who believes that we all must play by the same rules – even former presidents.” The Attorney General continued, “For years, Donald Trump engaged in massive fraud to falsely inflate his net worth and unjustly enrich himself, his family and his organization. Now, Donald Trump is finally facing accountability for his lying, cheating and staggering fraud. Because no matter how big, rich or powerful you think you are, no one is above the law.”

A solid reminder to obey laws, not grifters.

©2024 Jon Sinton