The Seat-of-the-pants Presidency and the Excitement of the Gish Gallop Gyp

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2070

Abstract

s interesting to me…” Yes, bleach.Trump is a trailblazer in that he is constantly and overwhelmingly using a classic debate fallacy technique to distract from actions that break the law and break covenants in broad daylight and in full public view. Before anyone can fully dissect any of the unexpected Trump moves, he is on to snow the media with a mountain of other problematic statements and actions. With the aid of FOX News and an army of AM radio talk shows that begin beating drums in his direction after every statement, and the silence of the entire Republican party, enough equivocation and confusion get in the middle so that despite lack of truth, logic, or validity these statements go on to sway people’s minds in his support.In Trumpworld quantity trumps quality, burying the press and the opposition with supposed “pieces of evidence” or “problem cases” — Look at China, look at Ukraine. Hunter Biden! Look at this evidence that people are telling me! — “The fake media won’t report this.”The inability to respond to the false “piles of evidence” convince his followers that he is right. He does not have to be right, nor does he have to support his statements. He just has to overwhelm all sides.People are left with the impression that there’s a huge amount of evidence behind the false statement as it takes time to accurately refute bullshit, thus people are left with the impression that science, or the media, or a political opponent can’t respond because — they assume — is true.Rebuttals by scientists and experts are often difficult for laypeople to understand, so it is easier to believe the lie than to do the work to figure what they are saying, often in jargon that seems convoluted to non-scientists.A lie may require experts in many fields to properly challenge it, that looks like the media or the opposition is ganging up on the liar; people will not remember details, they will just remember that it was all confusing or that there we

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re problems with the rebuttal.That is the Gish swindle. Trump’s innovation is its 24/7 use to obfuscate public understanding of everything and get away with anything. When he said he would shoot someone on Fifth Ave. and not lose any support, he knew exactly how he would do it. Of course, he had to keep the GOP in line.So, today the task force team for the United States’ response to the COVID-19 pandemic that has killed 170,000 Americans along with the Federal Drug Administration have the direction from the President of the United States to stop and look into the “miracle cure” reported by a pillow pitchman who claims that he and not the world’s top scientists has stumbled upon the drug that will put an end to the pandemic. Shift focus.Oleandrin is a dangerous poison and there is no valid evidence of any curative effects, other than a dream by the Mypillow guy. It is not a drug but, under loose U.S. nutritional supplement regulations, it could be sold as a supplement at best. One who stands to make money from its sale is the pillow man himself.And yet, that is all a distraction from Trump’s fumbling and catastrophic coronavirus response, from his outrageous and cruel wish damage the human flesh of those trying to reach the United States, from the destruction of alliances that have kept the peace since the end of World War II, from the sabotage of the U.S. Postal Service for personal vengeance and manipulation of the upcoming election in his favor.But why the continued formidable support? The answer is in your understanding of the Gish Gallop gyp — it banks on confusing people. It is not principled support, it is convenient reinforcement of prejudices with entertaining falsehoods that are hard to disprove immediately. The lies are exciting while the proofs are boring; the wild policy moves are thrilling to those looking for easy solutions and inclined fall for the charisma of the liar; the hard work to do the right thing is boring.</article></body>

The Seat-of-the-pants Presidency and the Excitement of the Gish Gallop Gyp

How Trump Gets Away With Everything —

Take out mailboxes. Sharpen the spikes atop the wall so they are more damaging to human flesh. Stop congressionally approved funding to a foreign ally. Start looking into Oleandrin — a toxic cardiac compound from a poisonous plant — as the miracle cure for COVID-19 because “some guy” called the MyPillow CEO and told him so. Those are just some of the ways Trump administers the laws and functioning of the United States. But, “people are telling me…”

“A lot of people are saying that I am doing a great job,” comes the distancing qualifier Trump uses to send the federal government and the press on wild goose chases that, coincidentally, have the effect of so-shocking the media that coverage of Trump failures and atrocities loses focus. It is the Gish Gallop, a cheap and fallacious tactic to overwhelming people with as many arguments as possible, without regard for accuracy or strength of the arguments.

Gish Gallop gets its name from its use by creationist Duane Gish, a shyster who would hurl as many different half-truths and no-truths into a very short space of time so that it was impossible to evaluate each in real-time.

By now you’ve seen and heard it a thousand times. Another straight-from-the-hip Trump comment, a gut feeling rather than science or technology or a predetermined plan. “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…” Yes, bleach.

Trump is a trailblazer in that he is constantly and overwhelmingly using a classic debate fallacy technique to distract from actions that break the law and break covenants in broad daylight and in full public view. Before anyone can fully dissect any of the unexpected Trump moves, he is on to snow the media with a mountain of other problematic statements and actions. With the aid of FOX News and an army of AM radio talk shows that begin beating drums in his direction after every statement, and the silence of the entire Republican party, enough equivocation and confusion get in the middle so that despite lack of truth, logic, or validity these statements go on to sway people’s minds in his support.

In Trumpworld quantity trumps quality, burying the press and the opposition with supposed “pieces of evidence” or “problem cases” — Look at China, look at Ukraine. Hunter Biden! Look at this evidence that people are telling me! — “The fake media won’t report this.”

The inability to respond to the false “piles of evidence” convince his followers that he is right. He does not have to be right, nor does he have to support his statements. He just has to overwhelm all sides.

People are left with the impression that there’s a huge amount of evidence behind the false statement as it takes time to accurately refute bullshit, thus people are left with the impression that science, or the media, or a political opponent can’t respond because — they assume — is true.

Rebuttals by scientists and experts are often difficult for laypeople to understand, so it is easier to believe the lie than to do the work to figure what they are saying, often in jargon that seems convoluted to non-scientists.

A lie may require experts in many fields to properly challenge it, that looks like the media or the opposition is ganging up on the liar; people will not remember details, they will just remember that it was all confusing or that there were problems with the rebuttal.

That is the Gish swindle. Trump’s innovation is its 24/7 use to obfuscate public understanding of everything and get away with anything. When he said he would shoot someone on Fifth Ave. and not lose any support, he knew exactly how he would do it. Of course, he had to keep the GOP in line.

So, today the task force team for the United States’ response to the COVID-19 pandemic that has killed 170,000 Americans along with the Federal Drug Administration have the direction from the President of the United States to stop and look into the “miracle cure” reported by a pillow pitchman who claims that he and not the world’s top scientists has stumbled upon the drug that will put an end to the pandemic. Shift focus.

Oleandrin is a dangerous poison and there is no valid evidence of any curative effects, other than a dream by the Mypillow guy. It is not a drug but, under loose U.S. nutritional supplement regulations, it could be sold as a supplement at best. One who stands to make money from its sale is the pillow man himself.

And yet, that is all a distraction from Trump’s fumbling and catastrophic coronavirus response, from his outrageous and cruel wish damage the human flesh of those trying to reach the United States, from the destruction of alliances that have kept the peace since the end of World War II, from the sabotage of the U.S. Postal Service for personal vengeance and manipulation of the upcoming election in his favor.

But why the continued formidable support? The answer is in your understanding of the Gish Gallop gyp — it banks on confusing people. It is not principled support, it is convenient reinforcement of prejudices with entertaining falsehoods that are hard to disprove immediately. The lies are exciting while the proofs are boring; the wild policy moves are thrilling to those looking for easy solutions and inclined fall for the charisma of the liar; the hard work to do the right thing is boring.