Pondering why the shutdown is hung up on on ACA subsidies? It isn’t the budget. It’s because our friends in Washington now live for social media instead of doing what is right for the American people. Why do I say that? Well, with government spending at $7 trillion and the subsidies costing $35 billion, a .005 change in spending won’t break the bank and it pales in comparison to the $400 billion in annual tax cuts that Republicans handed to their top donors earlier this year.
It used to be “It’s about the economy, stupid”. Now, “it’s about my electability, stupid”. Cowtowing to the folks who fund your election to the House and Senate is de rigeur these days. Doing the right thing is no longer the litmus test for legislating. “Will this get me re-elected?” is the phrase that pays…..
When a leader is not a leader
I read the The Dispatch on a daily basis. If you are a Republican who is not MAGA, or a person who is interested in unbiased (my opinion) political reporting, then you should subscribe to The Dispatch. There is a wide variety of content that challenges my thinking daily.
In an article published today entitled “It’s not too late for Trump to squeeze Putin” Eric Edelman makes this observation:
“The official Kremlin readout of the phone call the day before Zelensky’s visit to Washington reveals Putin’s praise for Trump’s Middle East efforts and indicates that Trump should have won the Nobel Peace Prize. He also emphasized that Russia was winning in all phases of the war in Ukraine and suggested that providing Tomahawks to Ukraine would have no military effect, while at the same time arguing that taking this step would be highly escalatory. Finally, Putin bemoaned the fact that ongoing U.S.-Russian differences over Ukraine were impeding the many benefits that would flow from an end to sanctions and the resumption of mutually beneficial economic and trade relations. “
You are not a leader if flattery is the reason you change policies, you are a weather vane: You turn wherever the winds of flattery blow you. Our President is just that. After a September 23 meeting with Zelensky, Trump posted, “I think Ukraine, with the support of the European Union, is in a position to fight and WIN all of Ukraine back in its original form. With time, patience, and the financial support of Europe, and, in particular, NATO, the original Borders from where this War started, is very much an option.” On October 17th, after the phone call, Trump said “They should stop where they are. Let both claim victory, let history decide! No more shooting, no more death, no more vast and unsustainable sums of money spent,”. Basically, Trump wants to reward Putin’s aggression with acquiescence. My guess is that there was more than flattery in the conversation that made Trump reluctant to send Tomahawk missiles. Probably some threat to Trump’s bank account or investment pullback in Russia. Who knows? The TACO man comes calling.
Good to not know you, Charlie Kirk
I barely even heard the name Charlie Kirk before he was shot in Utah. So, I admit, I did not know the man. But after scrolling through so many posts about him in social media, it’s now pretty clear that no one really knew him either. I am not saying that he couldn’t be known. I am quite certain that his family and very close friends knew exactly who he was. I don’t doubt that, behind the social media facade, he might have been a good person. But if the only way you knew Charlie was through social media or cable TV, then you didn’t *know* him. You knew the person that the algorithm presented to you.
That is the issue with social media and cable TV. There is a carefully curated feed of content that is shaped to either incite or excite you. As I watched videos of Charlie he was clearly presented as a saint, or as a villain. Both Charlies were convincing in those roles, and although as sinners we have both sides of us to contend with, social media algorithms will tune in on what keeps you scrolling and reading. You get what you stay for. It’s a pernicious feedback cycle referred to as the “echo chamber” but rather than hearing just yourself, you hear what you want to hear to the exclusion of all other content.
Whether you are MAGA or Antifa, you are brought to the extreme through the magic of psychological manipulation. Social media feeds are really remarkable in the way the algorithms continue to evaluate what draws your attention. Even a slight pause on an item will tune the algorithm to show more of that content. Technically, it’s brilliant, but that brilliance comes at a personal and social cost.
So, I’m glad I didn’t know Charlie because for me that Charlie could only be known through media and I know what is presented through social media and the cable networks is “true” only to whatever the focus demographic is. It takes too much effort in these days of AI and algorithms to fact-check every post. So, on social media, I stick with just friends that I DO know. Trending folks, popular folks, politicians, social media influencers, nope, not gonna “follow” them.
So, where do I get my news, and is it any better than social media? Well, network, over the air local stations, plus PBS, BBC, and a few others, combined with a real, printed newspaper and multiple magazines, give me a fairly balanced view of the world. I suggest that you do the same.