Disinformation, it Comes in Many Forms

Today, I would like to look at disinformation and two forms it can come in. The first is by commission; the second is by omission. The first involves an alleged tweet from President Donald Trump. I am glad that social media mutuals were able to spot it mainly. It was that egregious. The second involves Newsweek and the postal service. For the latter, the obligatory full disclosure. My husband is not just a postal worker but a Union official.

First, let’s look at Trump’s post and how you analyze this stuff. Analyzing this stuff is a useful skill in an age of universal deceit.

I realize Trump has posted very crazy stuff in the past. So this wouldn’t be entirely out of place. And, no, contrary to popular belief on the internet, Trump is not stupid. He talks about fourth to fifth-level education because that is where most Americans are. One-fifth of Americans are functionally illiterate as well.

It’s not a put-down. It’s a fact — one fact we need to work on. Newspapers are also written at that level. Again, lived experience is relevant, at least the papers we got when growing up in Mexico, made complex arguments on policy in the editorial page. It’s the same in Europe. I won’t argue that Mexico is more literate than the US. Or that it does not have issues with innumeracy either. She does, and that these are more severe in Indigenous communities is also very accurate.

I suspect the editorial page in Excelsior was the way it was as a class issue. I could make that point for…