A Firehose of Lies

Trump is an unNatural Disaster

The biggest liar in human history is about to be inaugurated on the steps of the Capitol where he incited an insurrection just four years ago - while California is burning and he’s fanning the flames.

It’s not the first time he’s used a tragic natural disaster to showcase his ignorance and sociopathy. We all witnessed his disdain for the flood victims in Puerto Rico when he lobbed rolls of paper towels into the crowd. We all saw him hold up a make-believe weather map on television, as if he could reroute a hurricane and rewrite his mistake with a fucking sharpie, all because his pathology won’t allow him to admit fault in matters large or small.

How about Hurricane Helene and his ridiculous lie that FEMA had no money because it was spent on populating America with illegal immigrant voters? How many layers of what the fuck go into that claim?

He lies at a dizzying speed. In the early days of Trump 1.0, there were publications that counted his lies. Remember that? After the number got into the tens of thousands, they stopped counting. The lies got bigger, and the lies got worse. We had a pandemic, and hundreds of thousands died as he lied. He lost the 2020 election, unleashed the Big Lie and tried to burn it all down.

But this time, as the winds in California surge, it feels like a set-up, like he’s taunting an enemy to destroy the integrity of science for political gain. Does he really want to deny aid to California, or make them dance for it? Does he want to use this tragedy to flex and to show other Blue states that they’re not his favored sons? Does he expect to prevail in the narrative that California is somehow responsible as the source of the disaster, and can that narrative, with zero mention of climate change or fossil fuels, be absorbed as true by the narrow majority - the very narrow majority - that voted for him?

The danger now is even greater because every lie he tells gets amplified, not just by the quacks at Newsmax, or the fools at Fox, but by the cowards at CNN. Yeah - they might call them false narratives or misstatements, but they’re fucking lies, nonetheless. And Trump, who cannot see beyond himself and cannot feel empathy or shame, is always going to choose political opportunism. Only now, more of the media lets him do it with little to no resistance to his lies, gaffes, or idiocy.

We were fascinated to learn that the term “Firehose of Falsehood” actually has its own Wikipedia page. It’s a propaganda technique in which false messages are broadcast and amplified rapidly and repetitively without regard for truth or even consistency. How poetic that its origin dates back to the Soviet Union, and that it’s become a contemporary model for Russian propaganda under Vladimir Putin - and how telling that it’s used to generate the type of public uncertainty that drives authoritarianism.

OS (Outspoken): I posted on Bluesky that Trump’s lies have spread faster than the wildfires.

SS (Shallow State): The corporate media used to be our first responders against obvious lies, but those goalposts have moved.

OS: Exactly. They normalize him, even during a natural disaster - because they’re afraid to speak truth to power. How are Trump’s lies perceived by the people in California?

SS: Most in the thick of it are focused on survival. And focused on helping each other. As you know, I live in Santa Monica, and I was in the evacuation warning zone until a couple days ago. While I saw was a fair amount of tragedy, I also saw a ton of humanity.

OS: I guess that’s what we have to hope reverses the tide. Humanity to counter his inhumanity. An Avalanche of Truth to counter his Firehose of Lies.

COMING SOON: BANTERS CHAT

IN CLOSING, this Banters collaboration will continue to present a more complete picture of what we’ll face ahead with frank exchanges that never pull punches. We’re resisters. And resistance needs focus and perspective. Outspoken HATES Trump, pure and simple. Shallow State says that what he really hates, is TrumpISM, the apparatus, and the fact that truth is being trampled. For more info on who we are check out our Welcome Issue, and follow us on Bluesky and yeah, Twitter.

Credits: Art by Outspoken

COMING UP in future issues of Banters:

The Trump Cult - WTF - maybe we're asking the wrong question

Fear is the point, but the Grift is the goal

What happened to Happiness, and why don’t Americans pursue it anymore?

More TIPS on dealing with stress