On truth, politics, JD Vance, and Kamala Harris
Honestly, you’re going to have vote for president in about 100 days. So stop credulously sharing crap that doesn’t matter.
There’s an account circulating about the masturbatory practices of Trump’s vice presidential candidate JD Vance, supposedly documented in his book Hillbilly Elegy. There are two problems with that.
It’s false. It’s not in the book.
And it doesn’t matter. If every candidate who masturbated was disqualified for public office, there would be no candidates. Nobody talks about it, but everybody did it. And nobody got hurt.
Of course, it’s funny, especially if you don’t like the guy or his prospective future boss. That still doesn’t make it relevant.
What matters
Donald Trump and Kamala Harris have very different economic plans. They matter.
Donald Trump and Kamala Harris have very different ideas about taxes. They matter.
They have serious differences regarding the size of the federal government and the role of regulators. And of what to do about Russia and Ukraine. And about Israel and Gaza.
Their ideas about when abortion should or shouldn’t be legal and who should decide are different, too. As are their ideas to address illegal immigration.
We’ve got a pretty good idea of what Trump’s character is, and we are learning about Vance’s (completely separately from this stupid false story). Harris is less well-known, but it’s not like she’s a completely blank slate; the media is doing its job of revealing how she does things, and her opponents are suggesting things worth checking out. Don’t believe all of it; check.
Kamala Harris isn’t Joe Biden, but her plans for government are a continuation of Biden’s. Trump is promising to be even more Trumpy than he was when he was president. There will be plenty of information on Vance and whomever Harris picks for her VP candidate.
It comes down to this: there is plenty of information on what matters about these candidates and what they will do. Neither is a mystery. As a citizen, that’s how you decide. Not based on prurient fakery.
What doesn’t matter
I’m tickled that when she was in the Senate, Kamala Harris’s office apparently had a softball team called the Oxford Kamalas. (That’s a grammar joke — and a reminder to pronounce her name “comma-la.”)
That doesn’t matter, either. But if you’re going to spread silly rumors, it’s better if they’re actually true and not so mean.
By denying the couch story, Vance cemented it in people’s minds. Anyone who pays attention knows it was never true, yet the image has what Steven Colbert calls truthiness. It reinforces what people were primed to believe. Roger Stone made this technique so effective among his own party that they, too, have bought in.
Couch is likely the best candidate, again.
We need to fix the system to encourage leaders to run.
The Dems appear to have missed a chance to get people interested. So sad.
I thought this was a brilliant and instructive way to use the story because it deconstructs the meme, illustrates what the media often gets wrong, and shows them how to correctly frame non-truths rather than just repeating/amplifying them: https://www.theframelab.org/dont-think-of-a-couch-humper-or-a-criminal/?fbclid=IwY2xjawEQnRhleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHRRMjnj2znC1EaoXUKoekGrrn_PExv5aDW8wXT5BgMo1WgA5J2w545MMEQ_aem_HK5BYLdi0q_EQYFH2VQo1Q
1) the Oxford Kamalas is a hilarious name
2) On a serious note: I am massively disappointed every presidential cycle about the lack of attention paid to Supreme Court nominations. I believe that regardless of political preferences, people should vote for the Presidential candidate who is most likely to nominate Supreme Court justices who will support the things they care about. I believe this is by far the most overlooked and underappreciated aspect of the president’s purview. And given how the Senate has handled nominations in the recent past (Garland blocked after March, 2016 nomination; Barrett confirmed after September, 2020 nomination), the importance is even greater.
Thanks, Josh, for your latest slap upside the head. Though I suspect most of your regular readers don’t need one, I think it’s important that everyone receive an occasional reminder to use WOBS principles in their daily life, especially for crucial issues like the future of our country.
I wish there were a way to give your important messages a wider audience. There seems to be no end to the mindless political crap pitched at us from the left and the right but not enough solid advice based on critical thinking, like yours.
Keep up the good work.