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Wednesday, May 24, 2023

Threats to Democracy Round Up - Selected Topics, Late May, 2023


Influence of Hostile Foreign Powers

We have previously posted lots of words about the anechoic effect: the lack of echoes produced by seemingly important stories about health care dysfunction.  It seemed as if such stories were taboo, presumably because even discussing them was seen as a threat to the rich and powerful who increasingly run health care.  Those involved in the leadership and governance of health care organizations and their cronies also have considerable power to damp down any public discussion that might cause them displeasure. In particular, we have seen how those who attempt to blow the whistle on what really causes health care dysfunction may be persecuted.   

 But as we discussed here, the major issues we discussed prior to 2015 gave way to a new normal with the advent of Trump as a presidential candidate and the MAGA movement as a major force in US politics.  In that 2020 discussion, we noted how the Trump administration acted to squelch discussion of scientific topics that did not fit in with its ideology, despite constitutional guarantees of speech and press free from government control (look here).

Now it appears that the most striking example of the anechoic effect involves discussion of the underlying causes of the anti-democratic turn in the US that threatens the system that permits public discussion, and the possibility of reforming health care dysfunction among other issues.  We continue to see bits of evidence made public about how democracy is threatened by the influence of hostile foreign powers, especially Russia, on US politics, especially elections.  Yet the evidence produces few echoes.

Here are some of the more striking bits of evidence that appeared in just the last two weeks about Russia's malign influence on US democracy.

Russia's Malign Strategy and Tactics

-The April 2023 Indictment for Russian Election Interference and Threats to U.S. Democracy "The Kremlin’s Strategy: Exploiting far left and far right fringes; Exploiting the racial divide; Going local"
https://www.justsecurity.org/86424/the-april-2023-indictment-for-russian-election-interference-and-threats-to-u-s-democracy/

Racism as a National Security Threat "the one big thru-line from the Cold War to today in terms of the  most exploitable vulnerability Russia can weaponize against us:  America’s racial divisions"
https://open.substack.com/pub/asharangappa/p/class-15-racism-as-a-national-security

Evidence of widespread Russian election meddling in other countries: "Kemal Kilicdaroglu, main challenger of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan,  said ... his party has concrete evidence of Russia's  responsibility for the release of 'deep fake' online content"
https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/erdogan-rival-says-has-evidence-russias-online-campaign-ahead-turkey-vote-2023-05-12/

Linkages of Trump and Supporters to Russia

 US Trumpists are increasingly part of a new global fascist axis: "far-right populism of Hungary’s prime minister is helping to inspire  U.S. Republicans' agenda for 2024, a game plan that targets  immigration, LGBTQ rights and... the war in Ukraine"
https://www.axios.com/2023/05/08/gop-hungary-connection-shaping-2024-campaign

Reminder that Trump "is Putin's puppet": He was "repeatedly asked by CNN host Kaitlan Collins if he backed Ukraine in its 15-month conflict with Vladimir Putin’s forces, and repeatedly dodged the question"
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/putin-ukraine-war-trump-cnn-b2336935.html

Follow the money: Trump Media got financing from Paxum Bank, which "promoted itself...as a way for video streamers of adult content  to coordinate financial transactions across international borders" and is owned by a sketchy Russian businessman
https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/05/13/trump-truth-social-loan-questions/

[Another Trump-Russia connection?] FBI agents raid condo unit owned by Russians at Trump Towers in Sunny Isles
https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/article275358451.html

The FBI raided a condo in Trump Tower III in Sunny Isles Beach, FL because its "owner was being arrested... on  charges of illegally selling airplane parts to Russian airline  companies"  
https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/days-mysterious-fbi-raid-russians-225454222.html

Putting another Russian asset in the WH: In call to ReAwaken America rally, Trump said he would give Michael Flynn a WH position.  Flynn "entered, then withdrew, a guilty plea of making false statements to the F.B.I" and hung out with Putin in Russia
https://www.thedailybeast.com/trumps-call-in-to-michael-flynns-far-right-roadshow-is-red-meat-for-christian-nationalists

Reminder: "next to Putin at the head table, in the seat of honor, was an American.  Retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, who would later become Donald Trump's  national security adviser"
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/guess-who-came-dinner-flynn-putin-n742696

Trump and Supporters' Techniques to Downplay their Connections to Russia: The Durham Investigation 

It was supposed to show how the investigation of Trump/Russia was a witch hunt.  It didn't

Not with a bang.... Trump fans hyped the Durham investigation. Trump fans will likely keep spinning it, but it "delivered underwhelming results... securing a guilty plea from a little-known FBI employee [and] ...losing ...2 criminal cases"
https://apnews.com/article/durham-trump-russia-probe-7e84f94ca9cf7905cbc5eddc108575b3

"Durham’s...report revealed little substantial new information  about the inquiry...failed to  produce the kinds of blockbuster revelations... that...Trump  and his allies suggested Mr. Durham would uncover"
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/15/us/politics/trump-russia-investigation-durham.html

"Durham...scolded the F.B.I. but failed to... uncover a politically motivated 'deep state' conspiracy.... charged no  high-level F.B.I. or intelligence official with a crime and acknowledged...Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign did  nothing prosecutable"
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/17/us/politics/durham-report-trump-russia.html

Despite the failure of the Durham investigation to find any important misconduct much less "deep state" politicization of the Trump-Russia investigation, to Trump fans it  "was Watergate times 10, or 100"
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/16/us/politics/durham-report-conservative-reaction.html

Russia, Trump and the 2016 election "Russia tried to swing the 2016 election to Trump; FBI had reason to investigate a tip suggesting Trump campaign involvement; Trump campaign welcomed help from Russia:  ‘Steele dossier’ proved to be a red herring"  
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/05/17/truth-about-russia-trump-2016-election/

Russian Propaganda and Disinformation

"hate crimes in America are often influenced by online chatter that's  increasingly linked to Russian sites or pro-Russian narratives on more  obscure parts of the internet. The Kremlin doesn't seem to mind"  
https://www.axios.com/2023/05/09/american-extremists-russian-sites-shootings

Conflicts of Interest, Corruption, Crime

Since 2015, we have asked (here) how the US (and the world) can possibly reduce health care corruption, a major cause of global health care dysfunction, under a thoroughly conflicted and corrupt Trump administration.  Since the end of that administration, Trump has campaigned to be president again.  Meanwhile, the evidence of his and his supporters' conflicts of interest, corruption, and criminality continue to grow.  Recent examples include:

Trump's Conflicts, Crimes, and Corruption

Jury finds Trump liable for sexual abuse, awards accuser $5M [When real, reasonable people get to review Trump's conduct while free of his intimidation and bluster they may tend to do so harshly]
https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/jury-to-start-deliberations-in-suit-accusing-18087335.php

"Trump admitted more directly than before on Wednesday that he knowingly  removed government records from the White House and claimed that he was  allowed to take anything he wanted with him as personal records" Confessing to a crime?  
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/11/us/politics/trump-documents-white-house.html

He just can't help himself: in his CNN Town Hall appearance, Trump appeared to defame E Jean Carroll again, just days after she won a lawsuit against him for his previous defamation
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/11/nyregion/e-jean-carroll-trump-defamation.html

[Even more accusations of sexual misconduct by Trump, even involving his own White House staff] Top aides reveal Trump’s alleged inappropriate conduct towards female staffers
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/donald-trump-white-house-aides-abuse-b2337881.html

Attacking the rule of law, eve obstruction of justice? - Trump fan politicians go after prosecutors who are investigating or otherwise legally pursuing Trump, including Manhattan DA Bragg, Special Counsel Smith, Fulton County GA DA Willis
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/may/17/donald-trump-republican-allies-prosecutors-investigations

There is apparently evidence that Trump knew he was committing a crime by walking off with classified presidential records despite his later claims that doing so was legal
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-mar-a-lago-classified-documents-evidence-b2342010.html

The Conflicts, Crimes and Corruption of Trumpist and/or Far Right Politicians

[Noticing this glaring conflict of interest] Judge to order Wisconsin Elections Commission to reconsider fake elector complaint without the commissioner who joined the scheme
https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/politics/2023/05/08/wisconsin-elections-commission-must-reconsider-fake-elector-case/70195092007/

Are they all sleazy or criminal? Republican "Rep. Bryan Slaton resigned from the Texas House on Monday after an investigation determined that he had an inappropriate sexual relationship with a 19-year-old woman on his staff"  
https://www.chron.com/politics/article/bryan-slaton-pressure-resign-texas-house-18086307.php

TX rep Slaton "proposed banning children from attending drag shows to supposedly shield them from being groomed... resigned after he was found to have engaged in inappopriate sexual  conduct with a 19-year-old intern" Fake morality of the culture warriors
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/may/09/republican-drag-shows-danger-for-kids-resigns-misconduct-intern

[Again, are they all crooks?] Rep Santos [(R-NY) is accused of using illicit campaign contributions for personal expenses "indictment accusing him of wire fraud, money laundering,  stealing public funds and lying in federal disclosure forms"
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2023/05/10/nyregion/george-santos-charges-news/santos-had-been-under-investigation-for-his-campaign-finances-and-other-activities

Rep George Santos confesses to theft in Brazil to avoid prosecution
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/05/11/george-santos-brazil-case-theft/

Follow the money: "conservative operatives using sophisticated robocalls raised  millions of dollars from donors using pro-police and pro-veteran  messages....  nearly all the  money went to pay the firms making the calls and the operatives  themselves"
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/05/14/us/politics/scam-robocalls-donations-policing-veterans.html

[And now reports of sexual misconduct by Trump's lawyer Giuliani] Rudy Giuliani accused of sexual harassment by ex-employee
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-65606131

[Are they all thugs, if not crooks?- Louisiana] GOP Rep Clay Higgins filmed shoving activist who questioned Lauren Boebert’s divorce
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/clay-higgins-shoved-activist-laren-boebert-b2341682.html

Propaganda, Disinformation, Deception

We used to write about propaganda and disinformation used to promote health care goods and services (stealth marketing campaigns), and advocate for policies favorable to private health care organizations (stealth health policy advocacy and stealth lobbying).  Some stealth marketing, lobbying and policy advocacy campaigns encompass not just propaganda, but disinformation.  For example, consider the health insurance company campaign to derail the Clinton administration's attempt at health reform as described by Wendell Potter in Deadly Spin (look here).  The tactics employed in that campaign included: use of front groups and third parties (useful idiots?); use of spies; distractions to make important issues anechoic; message discipline; and entrapment (double-think).

But back in the day, the notion of propaganda and disinformation as a real threat to health care, much less our democratic process and society as a whole, was pretty radical.  That was then.  By 2019 we were writing about a  a new (ab)normal that includes propaganda and disinformation in the service of hostile authoritarian foreign states meant to disrupt more democratic governments, whatever the cost in human health and lives.

 It is important to better understand the techniques of the propagandists and disinformationists, so:

Propagandists' and Disinformationists' Toolbox

Reflexive control "Using the name scholars have given to this area of research to  frame the debate baits Rufo’s opponents into arguing about what CRT is and isn’t, which... keeps the exact three words he wants (and  their attendant connotations) in circulation"  
https://open.substack.com/pub/asharangappa/p/erasing-memory

"How can we really engage in these conversations, when the tension is  there before you even pick up the book and open the topic?" [It's hard to  have a rational argument when fanatics are screaming at you]
https://www.axios.com/2023/05/04/us-history-test-results-civics-covid

The Flood the Zone with BS Technique:
[The old-time fast talking snake oil salesman in the internet age] Donald Trump steamrolls CNN’s town hall [It's easier to lie than to rebut a lie.  If someone lies very quickly, you can't respond in real time]
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/05/10/cnn-trump-town-hall-lies/

'"You can’t keep saying that all night long'....[so one]  can rebut him, correct him, interrupt him and otherwise battle with him  over every point, but that’s no match for ceaseless mendacity....'We don’t have time to fact-check every lie'"
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/05/10/cnn-trump-town-hall-lies/

It's the old Steve Bannon (and Russian) tactic: flood the zone with BS. "CNN hasn’t figured this thing out, and it’s a good bet its competitors have no better ideas" It's clear society needs a better solution to the flood the zone tactic.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/05/10/cnn-trump-town-hall-lies/

"fear is weaponized even more than hate by leaders who seek to spark violence. Hate is often part of the equation...but fear is  almost always the key ingredient when people feel they must lash out to  defend themselves.
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/06/opinion/fear-speech-social-media.html

Ways to Combat Propaganda and Disinformation

Ending false equivalence in choice of editorial voices: "will the  newspaper raise the bar for those local or syndicated [supposedly conservative] voices — i.e.,  requiring the commentary to actually engage in a truthful semblance of a  given issue?
https://www.sltrib.com/opinion/commentary/2023/05/08/commentary-will-we-see-honest/

How the media can cover Trump better this time "Focus on 'the stakes' of the 2024 election, not 'the odds'; Explain Trump’s probable agenda;  Don’t make getting access to Republican politicians or projecting 'neutrality and 'objectivity' a main goal"
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/05/09/trump-2024-cnn-town-hall-media-coverage/

Christian Nationalism Threatens Health Care Professionals, Medicine, Health Care, and Public Health

Much of the "culture war" is about attacking particular patient groups (eg, transgender patients, women seeking abortions, needing birth control or care for such conditions as ectopic pregnancy and miscarriage) and the health care professionals who care for them, or about attacking public health professionals (eg, those involved in pandemic policy) or creating phony public health problems, eg, pornography.

Furthermore, while these attacks are often framed in a biomedical, health care or public health context, the motivation behind them seems to come from extreme sectarianism, particularly Christian nationalism.

Leaked data on right-wing physicians group shows its support of extreme sectarian religious beliefs, recruiting "doctors and medical school students seen as holding Christian views," returning US to a time when "evangelical Christian beliefs" were favored
https://www.wired.com/story/american-college-pediatricians-google-drive-leak/

The state's near-total abortion ban is forcing providers to leave the state "she had to tell a patient that her  pregnancy had a significant fetal abnormality.... her hands were tied. She  couldn’t offer any more care- they had to go elsewhere"
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/idaho-abortion-ban-crisis_n_6446c837e4b011a819c2f792

[Attempting intimidation for taking care of patients] Texas AG Ken Paxton probing Austin children’s hospital [but] "It’s not clear what law Paxton believes Dell Children’s has broken;  Texas does not currently have age limits on gender-affirming care"
https://www.texastribune.org/2023/05/05/ken-paxton-trans-care-investigation-dell-childrens/

Fearing legal repercussions, doctors in Texas say they are risking grave patient harm to comply with new abortion restrictions [abortion bans'  adverse effects:  Extreme sectarian based medicine hurts patients]  
https://www.newyorker.com/news/dispatch/in-the-post-roe-era-letting-pregnant-patients-get-sicker-by-design

Reminder that movement against abortion imposes extreme sectarian religious beliefs on those of other faiths: "Jewish law dating back to the Torah has established that abortion is not murder."
https://www.charlotteobserver.com/opinion/article275261916.html

Confluence of far-right politics and health care nonsense: After DeSantis' coup, New College will host Dr Scott Atlas as commencement speaker. He was a  member of the Trump administration who promoted herd immunity as solution to COVID
https://www.tampabay.com/news/education/2023/05/09/new-college-picks-trump-covid-adviser-scott-atlas-commencement-speaker/

[How sectarianism and superstition creeps into public health] Ladapo's wife who "studied traditional naturopathy, plant and herbal medicine, and shamanism" convinced Ladapo to go to  counseling that that caused him to believe he was following "God’s plan"  
https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2023/05/13/joseph-ladapo-says-anti-vaccine-crusade-was-gods-plan-it-cost-him-his-peers-trust-2/

[More threats to health care] Abortion Clinics Are Dealing with More Arson, Stalking, and Anthrax Threats Now-  Abortion providers feared they’d see an increase in harassment and threats if Roe v Wade was overturned. They were right.
https://www.vice.com/en/article/v7bday/rise-in-abortion-clinic-harassment-after-roe

[Turning sexual hangups into policy? Theocrats go after porn as a public health threat, and...] There’s ‘nothing more timid’ than a man watching porn, Josh Hawley says "There is no risk involved, no exposure to hardship or danger in the least" Promoting sex and relationships that are risky, difficult, dangerous?
https://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article275458201.html

KS Republican county chair says LGBTQ friendly pastors "signed a contract with Satan," plans to "make it hostile to that group of people...small sliver of society...have them move elsewhere, that does a huge amount to shut this  down,”
https://themercury.com/news/republicans-revel-in-divine-plan-to-turn-kansas-into-conservative-sanctuary/article_4a9bbd54-a6fd-5d05-b06f-41785cf4eff6.html

Apparently afraid of prosecution under anti-abortion laws, doctors told patient threatened with a miscarriage "at high risk of life-threatening complications" they could do nothing.  Violating law requiring hospitals to treat patients in emergencies?
So anti-abortion laws make doctors damned if they do (abort pregnancy for patient facing high risk of severe complications) and damned if they don't (by failing to provide emergent care).
https://www.propublica.org/article/two-hospitals-denied-abortion-miscarrying-patient-breaking-federal-law

[More physicians driven away by bans on caring for patients demonized by sectarian extremists] Austin doctors who treated trans kids leaving Dell Children’s clinic after AG Paxton announces investigation
https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/talk-investigation-forces-tx-doctors-treat-trans-18098101.php

After quacky COVID herd immunity proponent and former Trump administration staffer Dr Scott Atlas invited to speak at DeSantis transformed New College commencement, students raise money to support alternative event
https://wusfnews.wusf.usf.edu/education/2023-05-10/with-former-trump-appointee-speaking-at-their-graduation-new-college-students-plan-alternative-commencement

Doctors forced out by laws restricting treatment of patients with pregnancy complications pushed by extreme sectarians: "Doctors... fleeing the state due to new abortion restrictions....[fearing] 'Being tried as a felon simply for saving someone’s life'"  
https://www.cnn.com/2023/05/13/us/idaho-abortion-doctors-drain

[Reminder: laws based on extreme sectarian religious views impose them on those of other faiths, and harm doctors and patients] Texas doctors depart as attorney general investigates hospital’s gender-affirming care
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/may/18/texas-hospital-inquiry-doctor-exodus

Follow the Money: Who Funds Attacks on Democracy

It's not just Russia and hostile foreign powers who threaten democracy behind the scenes.  Domestic greed is still a factor. 

Another example of how big national right-wing dark money came to small town to finance local school board candidates who wanted to ban books. We need to figure out who is paying for this, and what's in it for them  
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/05/06/nation/how-school-board-race-blue-state-illinois-became-nationally-funded-cage-match/

"Republicans...play this...game of supporting the  wealthy and big business behind the scenes... but making it appear...that they're on the side of the little person....going after the wokeness is a good way to do it...that's not  a bread and butter issue"
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-65428204

[One big corporation refuses to bow down to DeSantis' anti-woke threats.  Will others realize pumping money into extremists' political coffers is bad for business?] Disney Pulls Plug on $1 Billion Development in Florida
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/18/business/disney-ron-desantis-florida.html



 

 

Wednesday, May 10, 2023

Threats to Democracy Round Up - Early May, 2023



Influence of Hostile Foreign Powers


Reminders of how the US home-grown anti-democratic movement has been egged on by hostile foreign powers, chiefly Russia:


- How tied to Russia much of the far-right in the US now are: "the most energetic Kremlin propagandist around today" tells Tucker Carlson "We'll happily offer you a job if you wish to carry on as a presenter and host!"
https://www.businessinsider.com/russia-to-tucker-carlson-run-for-president-visit-moscow-2023-4

- Russian propaganda broadcaster RT to Tucker Carlson after he was fired- "Hey @TuckerCarlson .... You can always question more with @RT_com"
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/24/business/media/tucker-carlson-fox-news-dismissed-controversy.html

- [Re coordination of Trumpist and Russian propaganda/disinformation] Russia Is Not Happy About Tucker Carlson Leaving Fox News- Kremlin propagandists are mourning the departure of Carlson from Fox – and offering him jobs on Russian state TV

https://www.vice.com/en/article/pkab7z/tucker-carlson-russia-fox-news


Trump and Associate's Conflicts of Interest and Corruption


As we have said before, it is very difficult to reduce conflicts of interest and corruption in health care when a good chunk of societal leadership is conflicted and corrupt. A good example is our former President and his cronies:


-Trump, sued for defamation by E Jean Carroll, attacks her on social media during the trial.  Did he just violate a "federal obstruction statute that outlaws efforts to corruptly influence  or intimidate a juror, whether in a criminal or civil trial"
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/26/nyregion/carroll-trump-trial-testimony.html

- [Were they always dirty tricksters?] Guiliani admits using ‘dirty trick’ to suppress Hispanic vote in 1993 mayoral race [by telling people in Hispanic areas that they would need to prove immigration status to vote]
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/apr/29/rudy-giuliani-hispanic-vote-suppression-new-york-election

- "Trump behaves in predictable patterns and seeing the big picture  helps to illuminate those patterns....  the various  investigations spanning New York, Georgia, and DOJ almost all involve  some combination of financial fraud and election manipulation"
https://open.substack.com/pub/asharangappa/p/mindhunter-the-trump-files

- Judge says Trump "endeavoring, certainly, to speak to his quote-unquote public, but, more troubling, the jury in this case about stuff that has  no business being spoken about" That appears to be jury tampering, a criminal offense
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/apr/26/trump-rape-trial-e-jean-carroll-testify


Propaganda, Disinformation, Deception

 Some ideas for challenging rampant propaganda and disinformation

 

- "look closely at the way that people respond to criticisms of their theories. Do they engage directly...  resort to ad hominem attacks and red herrings... call on 'special pleading'...?"
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2023/apr/24/fake-or-fact-how-to-recognise-a-conspiracy-theory

- "To debunk a false belief, it may be better to target a person’s system  of beliefs rather than trying to change the false belief itself"
https://neurosciencenews.com/false-belief-system-23098/

- How to cover RFK Jr responsibly "Provide context without pushing a narrative; Explain the history; Call a  lie a lie; Avoid false balance; Take care with the headlines; Only allow debates on policy; Have compassion for his followers"
https://www.statnews.com/2023/04/24/robert-f-kennedy-jr-antivax-presidential-campaign/

- The press is in peril. Here’s how to save it- reader-funded journalism is free to hold power to account, and it’s spreading
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/may/03/press-in-peril-reader-funded-journalism-world


Political Propaganda and Disinformation Damaging Health and Health Care
 

Note that the really damaging material often comes from the extreme right, extreme sectarians especially Christian nationalists, and hostile foreign powers, viz:

 

- Thomas Jefferson hospital president has ‘liked’ tweets critical of COVID-19 vaccines, among other controversial topics [Then pleaded that he did not understand "liking" a Tweet somehow meant liking a tweet. If he was that ignorant of Twitter, why was he using it?]
https://www.inquirer.com/news/thomas-jefferson-mark-tykocinski-twitter-covid-20230429.html

- There is a "nexus between anti-trans and anti-vaccine ideas... anti-vaccine figures like Sherri Tenpenny... and Stew Peters... share news  articles and posts... stoking hatred and panic about trans issues...LGBT SATANIC Cult"
https://www.vice.com/en/article/93ky48/americas-most-influential-conspiracy-theorists-are-going-all-in-on-transphobia

- Making vaccines for COVID-19 look bad, presumably for political gain: How DeSantis' Florida Surgeon General reported "an increased risk of cardiac-related death among men 18-39" is "a dramatic story of how science should not be done"  
https://open.substack.com/pub/yourlocalepidemiologist/p/evolution-of-florida-vaccine-analysis

- Debunking the latest anti-COVID vaccine disinformation: "Social media posts are misrepresenting what Fauci said about masks and COVID-19 and omitting part of his response"    
https://apnews.com/article/fact-check-fauci-interview-face-masks-covid-406605262832

- Turning the concept on its head: NE Democrat who has transgender child accused of therefore having a conflict of interest - Such reasoning would suggest anyone who has a medical condition, or a relative with one has a conflict of interest.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/04/27/nebraska-senator-megan-hunt-complaint-trans/

- The latest in anti-vax disinformation "portrays a striking but false narrative - claiming that swathes of people are suddenly and suspiciously dropping dead in large numbers, and that Covid  vaccines are to blame"
https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-65412798


"Culture War" and Theocracy/Christian Nationalism


Much of the "culture war" is about attacking particular patient groups (eg, transgender patients, women seeking abortions, needing birth control or care for such conditions as ectopic pregnancy and miscarriage) and the health care professionals who care for them, or about attacking public health professionals (eg, those involved in pandemic policy) or creating phony public health problems, eg, pornography.

Furthermore, while these attacks are often framed in a biomedical, health care or public health context, the motivation behind them seems to come from extreme sectarianism, particularly Christian nationalism.

- DeSantis' "culture war" on Disney is about religious extremism: "American Family Association, a right-wing religious organization...[against] LGBTQ. rights, rallied...evangelical groups to boycott Disney [when]...it extended...benefits to gay employees"
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/26/us/politics/desantis-disney-republicans.html

- [First the religious fanatics came for the transgender kids, but I didn't have one so I did nothing...] Montana Governor Signs Law Banning Transgender Care for Minors [with apologies to Niemoller]
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/29/opinion/zooey-zephyr-montana.html

- Son asked Montana governor to veto anti-trans bill. It didn’t work. [They are so far gone that they won't even listen to your own children.  The family of @RepGosar was an early example]
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2023/04/28/montana-lgbtq-gianforte-son-gender/

- [They don't need no stinkin' separation of church and state: TX] Senate OKs bill to allow construction of anti-abortion monument on state Capitol grounds "[other] senators...[said] the statue seems to promote anti-abortion and religious beliefs"
https://www.chron.com/politics/article/texas-senate-monument-life-abortion-capitol-17919805.php

- [Forcing their sectarian beliefs about morality onto those of other faiths] MI Republicans fight...repeal [of] ban on unmarried cohabitation: "This law was not passed to be mean … it was passed for the betterment of society, particularly for children"
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/apr/21/michigan-republicans-repeal-ban-unmarried-cohabitation

- Far-right politics is about pushing extreme religious beliefs on non-believers, eg to far-right NC governor candidate "gay and transgender people are 'filth', homosexuality...abominable sin...transgender movement...'demonic'...'spirit of the antichrist'
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/may/05/mark-robinson-republican-north-carolina-governor-race

- 14-year-olds could serve alcohol under a new Wisconsin bill [sponsored by Republicans.  And they say they are all about the children?]
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2023/05/01/wisconsin-alcohol-teens-work/


But these attempts to impose rules based on extreme sectarian beliefs on people who believe otherwise often have adverse effects:


Far-right politicians attacking pornography, ostensibly to protect children, but per the ACLU "requiring adults to verify their ages – and expose their identities –  before accessing...websites will inevitably deter them from going to those sites"
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/may/03/pornhub-utah-age-verification-law

DIY trans care evades barriers in Missouri, other states [Anti-trans laws are generating a black market in health care. Just what the doctor didn't order]
https://www.sfgate.com/news/politics/article/diy-trans-care-evades-barriers-in-missouri-other-17998457.php

- An attempt to smear a health care institution based on far-right hostility to transgender patients fails "Investigation" of Washington University Transgender Center by a Republican AG whose staff ranted about "far left activists" turns up no major problems
https://apnews.com/article/missouri-transgender-youth-health-care-attorney-general-84da1c977c44bba9907f13b2d3a7141f

- "researchers have found repeatedly that a gun in the house makes people more likely to be  murdered, not less. 'People living in homes with firearms have higher  risks for dying by homicide,' according to a 2022 study in the Annals of Internal Medicine."
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/22/opinion/american-shootings-guns.html


Threats to Free speech, Expression


For health care professionals to use science to improve clinical care, via evidence-based health care, or simply by doing health care related science there must be a context of free speech and free expression.
Likewise, to change policy to reduce health care dysfunction reformers need to operate in a democratic context which protects free speech and expression.

However, the extreme right-wing movement threatens free speech and expression on many levels.


- What the Right-Wing [fascist] Takeover of a Progressive College Looks Like "Twitter under @elonmusk ...looked the same...degraded into a completely different experience.....'turning a top-rated academic institution into a third-rate athletic facility'"
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/29/opinion/new-college-florida-republican-desantis.html"

- "citizens...are white, Black, brown, gay, straight, Christian, non-Christian... no...portion of the community  should dictate what the rest...have access to.... because you don’t want to read... or see it, it doesn’t give you the right to deny others"
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/louisiana-banned-books-library-jeff-landry-b2324440.html

"1,477[+] attempts to ban 874 individual book titles within the first half of the 2022-2023 school year... a nearly 30 per cent spike... over the previous year....Overwhelmingly, book ban attempts target stories by and about people of colour and LGBT+"  
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/book-bans-censorship-lgbt-b2325804.html

"fear leads to self-censorship and heightened caution — long before the  laws take effect.... 'That’s how  authoritarianism works'" So in DeSantis' fascist Florida, a college student asks a reporter: "is this conversation we’re having … legal?"
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/04/19/desantis-higher-ed-reforms-students-concern/

"local officials came to their school library in... Granbury [TX] and started carrying away boxes of books....stories about gender, sexuality and race" If we don't stop them, the sectarian far-right will erase free speech and our religious beliefs  
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/texas-book-bans-granbury-lgbt-b2324468.html

- How to get involved in the fight against book bans "Read banned books; Reach out to your local officials; Donate to organisations; Get vocal; Vote"
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/fight-against-book-bans-us-b2326814.html

The Gravest Threats to Campus Speech Come From States, Not Students "The ironic truth is that laws that prohibit the teaching of 'divisive  concepts' are themselves attempts to indoctrinate students into seeing  the world through one lens"
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/21/opinion/free-speech-campus-states-not-students.html

[He don't need no stinkin' free speech]  DeSantis accidentally handed Disney a potent weapon against him  "pretty clear statements from Governor DeSantis that he is  seeking to punish a corporation for its speech....  prohibited by the First Amendment"
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/05/02/ron-desantis-disney-lawsuit-wokeness-donald-trump-2024/


Who Pays for and Benefits from Attacks on Democracy?

 

It is hard to challenge the wide-ranging attacks on health and health care, and the democratic context needed to promote them, without knowing who is supporting and funding them.

- Another under the radar far-right advocacy group,pushing to ease child labor laws, funded by "broad swath of ultraconservative and Republican donors-eg the Ed Uihlein Family Foundation and 85 Fund, a nonprofit connected to political operative Leonard Leo"
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2023/04/23/child-labor-lobbying-fga

- How big corporations benefit from funding far-right politicians "DeSantis... rightwing Republican governor of Florida...handed favors to his big-money donors in the insurance industry at the expense of cash-strapped residents of his state...report claims"
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/may/03/ron-desantis-insurance-industry-donors-florida-governor
 

Thursday, May 04, 2023

Who Cares If Hunter Biden Owns a Laptop? Red Herrings and Reflexive Control

 Introduction: Propaganda and Disinformation in Health Care and Elsewhere

 We used to write about propaganda and disinformation used to promote health care goods and services (stealth marketing campaigns), and advocate for policies favorable to private health care organizations (stealth health policy advocacy and stealth lobbying).  Some stealth marketing, lobbying and policy advocacy campaigns encompass not just propaganda, but disinformation.  For example, consider the health insurance company campaign to derail the Clinton administration's attempt at health reform as described by Wendell Potter in Deadly Spin (look here).  The tactics employed in that campaign included: use of front groups and third parties (useful idiots?); use of spies; distractions to make important issues anechoic; message discipline; and entrapment (double-think).

But back in the day, the notion of propaganda and disinformation as a real threat to health care, much less our democratic process and society as a whole, was pretty radical.  That was then.  By 2019 we were writing about a  a new (ab)normal that includes propaganda and disinformation in the service of hostile authoritarian foreign states meant to disrupt more democratic governments, whatever the cost in human health and lives.

And in 2023, propaganda and disinformation are in the headlines all the time.  But it is still important for health care professionals and the public at large to appreciate the mechanisms of both, and how to mentally defend against them.  In 2023, despite the headlines, the propagandists and disinformationists are not slowing down.  So it's time to review how they operate again. Let me present a recent example that caught my eye.

Who Cares if Hunter Biden owned a Real Laptop?   

As Elon Musk's Twitter gets increasingly raucous, the propaganda and disinformation that appear therein has gotten back to basics, providing some stark examples of the techniques used.  For example, see this 5 word Tweet from Rep Elise Stefanik (R-NY), a Harvard educated Congresswoman who has become a prime booster of Trump. 

Hunter Biden’s laptop is real.

What could it mean? Is there a debate going on whether Hunter Biden (the son of President Biden) owns a laptop? Who would care?

Of course, it turns out that there is a very big controversy, promoted by people who support Trump, about whether some aspects of a laptop ostensibly once owned by Hunter Biden suggest that both Bidens are unethical, corrupt, or worse.  For example, Washington Post reporters tried to analyze the controversy and the various questions raised about the provenance of the allegedly incriminating data:

217 gigabytes of data provided to The Post on a portable hard drive by Republican activist Jack Maxey. He said the contents of the portable drive originated from Hunter Biden’s MacBook Pro, which Hunter reportedly dropped off at a computer repair shop in Wilmington, Del., in April 2019 and never reclaimed.

The vast majority of the data — and most of the nearly 129,000 emails it contained — could not be verified by either of the two security experts who reviewed the data for The Post. Neither found clear evidence of tampering in their examinations, but some of the records that might have helped verify contents were not available for analysis, they said. 

It's clear there was no clear chain of custody spanning Hunter Biden, the laptop, its hard drive, the data on that hard drive, and the data eventually given to the Washington Post.

Furthermore, the significance of this electronic data and the strengths of any arguments about the behavior of Hunter Biden, President Biden, or other people based on it are very unclear.

So what was the point of Rep Stefanik's stark statement (and many others like it)?

The Red Herring Logical Fallacy

One simple explanation is that Rep Stefanik et al were employing the Red Herring Logical Fallacy.  One definition of this fallacy is:

Attempting to redirect the argument to another issue to which the person doing the redirecting can better respond. While it is similar to the avoiding the issue fallacy, the red herring is a deliberate diversion of attention with the intention of trying to abandon the original argument.

So this is like the many other examples of the use of logical fallacies to advance self-serving arguments about health care, policy, or other issues that we have discussed

Reflexive Control

However, Rep Stefanik's 5 word assertion may actually be part of something more sophisticated.

It may be part of a larger strategy of reflexive control.  Discussions of reflexive control used to mainly appear in fairly esoteric places, eg in considerations of military and intelligence strategies, game theory, etc. Here is some background from the Georgetown Security Studies Review from 2017:

With confusion swirling around 'alternative facts,' the effects of disinformation and Russian meddling are just beginning to take hold. This phenomenon may be new to American politics, but it’s an old strategy in the Kremlin. To understand and combat the effects and goals of disinformation, we must understand the concept of reflexive control and how it fits into greater Russian strategy.

Reflexive control is a 'uniquely Russian' concept based on maskirovka, an old Soviet notion in which one 'conveys to an opponent specifically prepared information to incline him/her to voluntarily make the predetermined decision desired by the initiator of the action'. That is, reflexive control is a sustained campaign that feeds an opponent select information so that the opponent makes the decisions that one wants him/her to. Methods of reflexive control include spreading false information, leaking partial information at opportune moments, and projecting a different posture of oneself than what may actually be the case. The goal of reflexive control is to ‘control’ the ‘reflex’ of the opponent by creating a certain model of behavior in the system it seeks to control. The most fundamental way to do this is to locate the weak link in the system and exploit it through moral arguments, psychological tactics, or appeals to specific leaders’ character.

This concept has a long history in Russian military strategy, with the Soviet and Russian Armed Forces studying reflexive control at both the tactical and operational levels. Reflexive control has also long been taught at various Russian military schools and training programs, and is codified as Russian national security strategy in the Gerasimov Doctrine. Today, reflexive control is a key component in Russia’s idea of hybrid warfare.

 


Here is a useful summary from the PropWatch Project about how it's done:

 A messaging strategy of reflexive control conveys specially prepared information to an opponent to incline that opponent to voluntarily make the predetermined decision desired by the initiator of the action.' In other words, reflexive control is a way to get an opponent to willingly defeat himself. 

First introduced in the former Soviet Union by mathematician and psychologist Vladimir Lefebvre, reflexive control is a concept that has been perfected by Russia since the 1960's. A strategy of reflexive control can be reduced down to four basic components, also called the 4Ds:

Dismiss - to simply deny any involvement in a matter and discredit the accuser.
Distort - to warp, twist, or fabricate your own facts.
Distract - to introduce certain novel information into the mix or accuse your accuser of the same. 
Dismay - to play with emotions by using fear-mongering tactics.

Accusing one's political enemy of denying the existence of an object (a laptop) when the real questions are complicated ones about the truthfulness of evidence and the best way to interpret it seems to fit right in.

Conclusions

The problems of propaganda and disinformation in health care and policy no longer seem esoteric.  Instead they have become central problems of our time, and a clear challenge to our ideals of democratic government.  Without a functioning democracy, IMHO trying to make incremental changes in health policy to reduce health care dysfunction becomes an exercise in frustration, if not futility.

Health care professionals and the general public must better understand and learn to defend against both crude and sophisticated attempts to warp policy and politics, and corrupt democracy to prevent the onset of a new dark age.

We on Health Care Renewal  will continue to try to do our small part to defend against these dark arts.