Ever since the FBI executed the DOJ’s search warrant on Trump’s storehouse of stolen nuclear secrets, you might have found it exhausting and dispiriting to track the ever-changing torrent of lies that his enablers have offered in response.
That is precisely what those lies were intended to do. They aren’t meant to convince you; they’re meant to exhaust your critical facility. This is a disinformation technique variously called the “BS Firehose,” the “Gish Gallop” (after creationist, and noted liar, Duane Gish) or as human-adjacent slander golem, Steve Bannon likes to call it. “Flooding the zone with bullshit.”
They’re lying, and they know it
Until recently, I've seen far too many people on our side assume the problem with right wing messaging and its messengers, was ignorance instead of profound bad faith. So they responded with mentally taxing explanations, only to be dismissed because the people they’re seeking to enlighten don’t care. To assume that right wing fanatics tell false stories because they’re misinformed is as naiive as assuming that the architects of the gas chambers of Auschwitz were just really bad at designing showers.
Why they lie
We know that the people who lie for Russian troll farms do it for a paycheck because their Kremlin bosses have found it a very cheap and effective way of destabilizing Western democracies. But why do the amateurs like the MAGA crowd, and other true believers, such as creationists and anti-vaxxers, lie so prolifically and without shame? Why do they have zero qualms about repeating the very story somebody has just debunked right in front of them?
Simply put: they see truth as whatever supports the belief system of their tribe. That’s why they try to discredit any uncomfortable fact by attacking the motives of the people who deliver it, and why those motive attacks always make sure and tag the truth teller as someone from a different tribe. It’s also why anybody who dares oppose any of the approved lies gets labeled a RINO and banished from the fold.
Their Truth is Tribal
Liberals marvel at the right wing’s ability to instantly fall in line behind any shared narrative, no matter how inconsistent, irrelevant or false. We fail to understand that for the right wing, there is no ultimate truth aside from a shared narrative. And where does this shared narrative come from? Hint: NOT from a collection of evidence-based observations, ever. For the right wing mind, the thought of building a world view out of stories that could be disproved by new information provokes extreme anxiety. It must come from “on high,” in the person of a strong man leader who will resolve all of life’s contradictions, smite all enemies and make the rough places smooth. Sound like anyone you know?
So no, the actual truth of a claim, as you or I define truth, it is of no concern to these people whatsoever, at least as far as politics is concerned. (when engaged in activities that aren’t explicitly ideological, they can be as practical, fact-based and strategic as their liberal counterparts, which is why Nazi planes flew just fine) But when questions of ideology are in the balance, reality loses. That’s why they wanted to ‘stop the steal’ for a notably clean and not-at-all close election. In matters of ideology, they believe they have access to a truth that is greater than evidence, and that this great truth justifies any number of offenses against fact, which they consider an inferior product in any case. Hannah Arendt described such people in her book, The Origins of Totalitarianism:
“The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the convinced Communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction (i.e., the reality of experience) and the distinction between true and false (i.e., the standards of thought) no longer exist.”
So how do you talk to people who don’t care that they’re lying?
Remember: Flooding the zone is a dominance display, not an exchange of ideas. They are waging a holy war against bad people like us, and nothing so minor as a contradictory fact could penetrate their righteous armor. In their arguments, consistency doesn’t matter; good faith matters even less. If they can’t yet murder or jail liberals for being liberals, they’ll settle for ‘owning’ us.
You can’t change their hearts and minds, such as they are, but you can make their ‘lib-owning’ game so unrewarding and downright frustrating, that they back away, yelling some inane parting shot over their shoulder as they retreat.
Here are some tips:
Never, ever explain. They’re the ones talking complete and utter shit, and they’re fine with that. You owe them less than nothing. Make them own their most asinine notions by explaining the details to you. To do that you must…
Identify the weakest part of their argument and ask open questions to make them explain it. When they insist the DOJ must release the unredacted search warrant affidavit ask, “how often does that happen before criminal indictments?” Can you give me numbers? Please explain.” I call this the “Please Explain Technique” because it forces the bullshitter do some cognitive heavy lifting by outlining the details of some bogus claim they only ever intended as a bludgeon.
Casually acknowledge their lies. When they attempt to answer a challenge by flooding the zone with more lies, say, “let’s return to that first lie of yours” and when they persist, say, “one lie at a time please” and return to hammering the questions they won’t answer.
Keep hammering the question they can’t or won’t answer. When you use open questions press right wingers for details on a plan that was never more than a patchwork of slogans, or a charge that is an opinion
Undermine their imagined authority. If they Sealion you by asking haughty and disingenuous questions like, “why was Hillary never prosecuted for her crimes?” or what proof is there that Trump ever lied? Never give them the answers they’re pretending to seek. Instead, understand that what they’re really doing: setting themselves up as the world’s ultimate authority on what’s true and false, legal and illegal while placing you in the position of a supplicant who lays more and better facts at their feet, only to see them contemptuously kicked into the gutter.
Do you really want to hand this goon that kind of power? If not, take it right away from their entitled ass. Ask them, “Who died and made you, the final judge, jury and ultimate authority on everything? Where did you get this godlike power your seem to think you have?”Use undermining and disempowering words. Right wing extremists want to dominate you because they get off on feeling large and in charge. So you need to address them with words that stress their weakness, incompetence and failure. Keep the focus on the ineptitude of their lies, not their dishonesty or even their cruelty. Right wingers care far more about feeling competent and powerful far more than they do about being decent or ethical. Don’t name-call or attack directly. Instead, demean their ideas and arguments with disparaging words. When addressing any narrative they put forth, call it “the little story you just cooked up” or “that clumsy little distraction of yours,” or “those weak little lies you keep trying to tell.” This approach isn’t for everyone
Avoid “Idiot Compassion:” or “Savior Syndrome” You are not here to reform this person or prompt an awakening that will soon propel them in front of Terry Gross’ microphone to describe their journey out of far-right madness. You are simply here to make spreading disinformation uncomfortable.
Their responses will always fall short of “I surrender,” but if you get “yawwwn,” followed by an insult it means you’ve asked a question they don’t want to answer. And if you see them tell you you’re not worth talking to or saying some sentient fedora statement like, “good day, Sir!” congratulate yourself. You won. Like their bloated, Cheeto-hued messiah, they will never concede, but they will also never end a discussion they think they’re winning. And you can and will win.
But more importantly, you have modeled an aggressive, no-nonsense liberal response to the right wing’s constant lies. And if you don’t think that works, look at the Fetterman v. Oz campaign. Just imagine the impact we’d have if many more of us did this!