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“More than anything, this pandemic has fully, finally torn back the curtain on the idea that so many of the folks in charge know what they’re doing. A lot of them aren’t even pretending to be in charge.”
The absurdity to which Obama alludes has long passed the point of self-parody. Donald Trump, the President of the United States, talked about disinfectant injections? To refresh our memories, here are his exact words from a few weeks ago:
"And then I see the disinfectant, where it knocks it out in a minute. One minute. And is there a way we can do something like that, by injection inside or almost a cleaning. Because you see it gets in the lungs and it does a tremendous number on the lungs. So it would be interesting to check that. So, that, you’re going to have to use medical doctors with. But it sounds — it sounds interesting to me."
The absurdity of Trump's suggestion should be obvious to anyone. Anyone at all. The disconnection from reality is complete. The United States leads the world in coronavirus deaths. Yet Trump's supporters continue to support him.
Indeed, the Trump Administration's outrageous celebration of incompetence and ignorance has brought such tragic consequences – yet President Trump’s core voters continue to support him. Opinion poll aggregator Five Thirty Eight shows that 44% of the public approves of Mr. Trump’s performance as president, which is not badly out of line with the ratings that other presidents have received at a comparable point in their first terms. A recent CBS poll found that “Americans continue to say they trust medical professionals for virus information, but Republicans also rank President Trump about as highly among their trusted sources, even as others give him his lowest marks to date for handling the outbreak.” That's right: a man who talked about injecting bleach and alcohol into patients continues to receive massive support for medical information. Why?
First, for centuries, the President of the United States has been among the most prestigious of all world leaders. Few would have thought of questioning the wisdom of Dwight Eisenhower or John Kennedy during an international crisis. People might not always agree with them, but they would receive respect. People would know that the president has access to tremendous information sources, and assume that the president is wise and will tend to act in the nation’s interest. Republicans still largely consider President Trump to be one of their own and support him loyally.
Second, mass media programs constantly tell us that our leaders are wise. We’ve all seen episodes of The West Wing. In that show, President Bartlet handled crises every week with calm confidence and a deft hand. I cannot imagine that many political scientists or other qualified people would consider that glowing depiction to be remotely realistic. President Bartlet is a fantasy figure.
We should have gotten over that hero-worshiping attitude a long time ago. Yes, President Kennedy handled the Cuban Missile Crisis skillfully to avert war, but his work during the Bay of Pigs invasion was beyond idiotic. (He and his staff planned a disastrous invasion without looking at a map!) And anyone who has read the Watergate White House transcripts should see, above all else, that President Richard Nixon and his advisors were not only evil, but careless, shortsighted, and incompetent: not only did they decide to commit felonies with hardly a second thought, but Nixon tape-recorded them doing it.
We could learn from the Federalist Papers. The founders of our republic never thought that our leaders would always be capable and beneficent. Instead, they designed a system of government whose purpose was to check our leaders’ power and stop anyone from becoming a king. They recognized, as today’s public too often does not, that the people at the top sometimes don’t know what they’re doing. Toward that end, in Federalist #47, Alexander Hamilton himself emphasized that the various powers of government needed to be separated to prevent any person or group from becoming too powerful. His attitude was to trust the system, not the leaders.
This does not mean that we should be cynical about everything our leaders do. Neither does it justify us in becoming so cynical that we believe one idiotic conspiracy theory after another. It does mean that we should use the critical thinking and research skills (that are too rarely taught in schools) so we can think for ourselves and make rational judgments. Nobody who thinks twice about it could possibly respect a president who advocated bleach injections. The problem is, too many people respect the presidency so much that they don't evaluate his statements for even a moment.
Link: The Rhetoric of Conspiracy Theories
Instead, let me mention the advice that my classmates and I received from the Provost of the College of William and Mary when I enrolled in the fall of 1969: “Respect your professor’s superior knowledge, but do not be intimidated by it.” We could say something like that about our political leaders: show them respect when they deserve it, but don't follow them blindly. We cannot rely blindly on authorities and must often analyze important issues for ourselves. However, thinking for yourself does not mean blindly believing whatever you want. It means to look at the evidence, weigh probabilities, and make carefully reasoned judgments. That’s hard work. But the Trump administration's failures show us that, if our republic is to endure, that’s what we need to do.
Yes, we communication professionals too often think logic and reasoning are more persuasive than they really are. Yes, powerful men and women need to be careful about what they say. And, yes, the schools need to teach more about research and thinking skills: multiple choice tests are of little use after you graduate. But, equally, the citizens of a constitutional republic need to be responsible listeners. I'll try to write more about that in a few days, especially about the fallacy of appeal to authority.
Image: White House photo
First, for centuries, the President of the United States has been among the most prestigious of all world leaders. Few would have thought of questioning the wisdom of Dwight Eisenhower or John Kennedy during an international crisis. People might not always agree with them, but they would receive respect. People would know that the president has access to tremendous information sources, and assume that the president is wise and will tend to act in the nation’s interest. Republicans still largely consider President Trump to be one of their own and support him loyally.
Second, mass media programs constantly tell us that our leaders are wise. We’ve all seen episodes of The West Wing. In that show, President Bartlet handled crises every week with calm confidence and a deft hand. I cannot imagine that many political scientists or other qualified people would consider that glowing depiction to be remotely realistic. President Bartlet is a fantasy figure.
We should have gotten over that hero-worshiping attitude a long time ago. Yes, President Kennedy handled the Cuban Missile Crisis skillfully to avert war, but his work during the Bay of Pigs invasion was beyond idiotic. (He and his staff planned a disastrous invasion without looking at a map!) And anyone who has read the Watergate White House transcripts should see, above all else, that President Richard Nixon and his advisors were not only evil, but careless, shortsighted, and incompetent: not only did they decide to commit felonies with hardly a second thought, but Nixon tape-recorded them doing it.
We could learn from the Federalist Papers. The founders of our republic never thought that our leaders would always be capable and beneficent. Instead, they designed a system of government whose purpose was to check our leaders’ power and stop anyone from becoming a king. They recognized, as today’s public too often does not, that the people at the top sometimes don’t know what they’re doing. Toward that end, in Federalist #47, Alexander Hamilton himself emphasized that the various powers of government needed to be separated to prevent any person or group from becoming too powerful. His attitude was to trust the system, not the leaders.
This does not mean that we should be cynical about everything our leaders do. Neither does it justify us in becoming so cynical that we believe one idiotic conspiracy theory after another. It does mean that we should use the critical thinking and research skills (that are too rarely taught in schools) so we can think for ourselves and make rational judgments. Nobody who thinks twice about it could possibly respect a president who advocated bleach injections. The problem is, too many people respect the presidency so much that they don't evaluate his statements for even a moment.
Link: The Rhetoric of Conspiracy Theories
Instead, let me mention the advice that my classmates and I received from the Provost of the College of William and Mary when I enrolled in the fall of 1969: “Respect your professor’s superior knowledge, but do not be intimidated by it.” We could say something like that about our political leaders: show them respect when they deserve it, but don't follow them blindly. We cannot rely blindly on authorities and must often analyze important issues for ourselves. However, thinking for yourself does not mean blindly believing whatever you want. It means to look at the evidence, weigh probabilities, and make carefully reasoned judgments. That’s hard work. But the Trump administration's failures show us that, if our republic is to endure, that’s what we need to do.
Yes, we communication professionals too often think logic and reasoning are more persuasive than they really are. Yes, powerful men and women need to be careful about what they say. And, yes, the schools need to teach more about research and thinking skills: multiple choice tests are of little use after you graduate. But, equally, the citizens of a constitutional republic need to be responsible listeners. I'll try to write more about that in a few days, especially about the fallacy of appeal to authority.
Image: White House photo
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