“It’s lies all the way down.”

October 9, 2024

To readers and friends in the path of Hurricane Milton: Our thoughts are with you. Please be safe. The Comments section is open to all. Check in if it is safe to do so.

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“It’s lies all the way down.”

An apocryphal story tells of a skeptical audience member who challenged a 19th-century astronomer after a lecture in which the astronomer asserted that the Earth is round and suspended in space. The skeptic told the astronomer that the Earth rests on the back of a giant turtle (a myth with an ancient heritage). The astronomer patiently pushed back, asking, “On what does the giant turtle stand?” The skeptic replied, “On another giant turtle.” The astronomer persisted, “And on what does the second turtle stand?” The skeptic responded, “You aren’t going to trick me! It’s turtles all the way down!”

So, too, with Trump world’s cascade of lies. It’s lies all the way down. It is impossible to disprove lies that disappear into a bottomless cesspool of falsehoods. Trump’s self-replicating lies are a virus compounded by the absolute lack of shame or remorse when the liar is caught in the lie. The last forty-eight hours have given us the textbook example of Trump's “respond to disproven lies with bigger lies” strategy.

On Tuesday, multiple outlets reported that Trump sent Vladimir Putin an early Covid testing machine. Putin instructed Trump to keep the transaction secret because it would prove embarrassing to Trump. (In fact, as noted below, the transfer was probably illegal.)

The story of the Covid testing machine gift to Putin was met with a furious, unequivocal denial by Trump and his spokesperson. Trump told ABC News, “That’s false. He [Bob Woodward] is a storyteller. A bad one. And he's lost his marbles.

Trump's shameless campaign spokesperson, Steven Cheung, dismissed the stories, saying,

None of these made-up stories by Bob Woodward are true and are the work of a truly demented and deranged man who suffers from a debilitating case of Trump Derangement Syndrome.

On Thursday, a Kremlin spokesperson made a liar out of Trump, confirming that Trump did send a Covid testing machine to Putin during the early days of the pandemic. See Axios, Kremlin refutes Trump denial on sending Putin COVID testing equipment. The original report of the Kremlin statement is here, behind a paywall: Bloomberg, US Elections: Kremlin Confirms Trump Sent Putin Covid Tests While President.

To recap: Trump and his campaign issued a flat-out denial of Woodward’s report. The Kremlin confirmed the report, proving that Trump was lying about a matter that posed the risk of blackmail by the Kremlin.

How can this man be president?

And, just as importantly, why is the story of this blatant lie not the leading story on every newspaper and website, accompanied by a red-flashing siren graphic? But as of Thursday evening, that outrage—or even news coverage—was missing from major media.

This isn’t just any lie. It is a lie about an action by Trump that likely violated the US sanctions embargo in effect at the time. See Lucian K. Truscott IV, Kremlin confirms that Trump sent COVID testing equipment to Putin (substack.com). (“Russia was under strict sanctions by 2020, which were imposed under the Obama administration after Moscow invaded and seized the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine.”)

The media is reporting that Trump has been caught lying. But those stories lack the analysis of “So what?” and “Why does it matter?” No other candidate caught in such a lie would survive the press firestorm that would follow.

But here, the response is “crickets.” Nothing. Nada. Zip. The press spilled tankers of ink over whether Tim Walz and his wife used “IVF” versus “fertility treatments” twenty years ago. I hope that major editorial boards are furiously working on opinion articles that say, “Trump is a liar who is unfit to be president.”

The second part of Woodward’s story will likely prove true, as well. On Wednesday, JD Vance said, “I haven’t talked to Trump about this, but even if he did talk to Putin, what’s the big deal?” See HuffPo, JD Vance Scorched For ‘Grotesque’ Defense Of Trump’s Reported Chats With Putin.

In case you missed the point, Vance’s comments are a set-up for the revelation that Trump did, in fact, speak to Putin on a half-dozen occasions after leaving office—in direct contradiction to Trump's denials.

Why do those conversations matter? Because the DOJ has accused Russian interests of actively interfering in the 2024 presidential election. The fact that Trump is holding secret discussions with Putin at the very moment that Russia is interfering in our elections creates the strong implication that Trump and Putin are coordinating those efforts. The burden lies on Trump to rebut that logical inference.

The problem with Trump's constant lies is that they are not limited to his treachery. He lies about immigrants, elections, the economy, and natural disasters. Trump has managed to create distrust between victims and first responders. He has encouraged potential victims to ignore evacuation warnings because they wrongly believe FEMA will seize their homes if they leave. He has caused his followers to believe that the government can control and direct the weather to “red states” or “red counties” in purple states.

Marjorie Taylor Green tweeted that hurricanes are striking “red” states because “they” control the weather. She also famously claimed that wildfires in California were caused by “Jewish space lasers.” It is always only one step from any conspiracy theory to antisemitism. (Josh Marshall of Talking Points Memo has an important story about antisemitic texts being sent to Florida voters connecting disaster relief lies and US support for Israel. See TPM, The Text Campaign Underworld and the Florida Anti-Semitism You Can Find There. This article may be behind a paywall.)

It has become so bad that President Biden took to the airwaves on Wednesday to deny that the US government controls the weather. See Talking Points Memo, Biden Forced To Remind Everyone He Doesn’t Control The Weather.

When the media ridiculed Marjorie Taylor Greene’s ludicrous lie, her response was to double down with more lies. See The Independent, Marjorie Taylor Greene doubles down on weather control conspiracy theory despite experts rubbishing ‘hurricane modification’.

Marjorie Taylor Greene expounded,

“Everyone keeps asking, ‘who is they?’ Well, some of them are listed on NOAA, as well as most of the ways weather can be modified . . .”

Greene also attached screenshots of “weather modification project reports” from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration [NOAA] website.

Marjorie Taylor Greene’s attack on NOAA is consistent with the goals of Project 2025. Project 2025 proposes the “commercialization” (read: privatization) of NOAA’s weather forecasting function.

Per PBS, Project 2025 “describes NOAA as a primary component “of the climate change alarm industry” and said it “should be broken up and downsized.”

Republicans are institutionalizing lies. For example, in Florida, Governor Ron DeSantis signed a bill in May that removes the term “climate change” from state law and “deprioritizes” efforts to fight global warming. See NPR Florida Gov. DeSantis signs bill that deletes climate change from state law. DeSantis said when he signed the bill that “I am not a global warming guy,” but 90% of Floridians believe climate change is happening now. After Hurricane Milton, that percentage is likely to increase.

The attack on NOAA and the institutionalized lies in Florida bring us full circle to Hurricane Milton and Trump's “lies all the way down” strategy of undermining trust in the government. That strategy seeks to reduce the size and presence of the federal government in our lives. However, Hurricanes Helene and Milton highlight the federal government's irreplaceable role in natural disasters that quickly overwhelm the resources of any individual state.

Trump's lies matter. It should be big news when he lies, not a collective yawn in the media and among elected officials. Lying about the federal government's response to natural disasters and his own violations of US embargo sanctions against Russia are disqualifying for the presidency. The media needs to say so. As do we—with an overwhelming repudiation of Trump at the polls.

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Opportunities for Reader engagement

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Reader meeting in DC canceled

I won’t be able to meet with readers in DC on Friday. I am feeling under the weather and not up to a three-day turnaround to DC, so will reschedule the trip soon. Apologies.

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Thursday Zoom with Dan Osborn, independent candidate for US Senate in Nebraska

Join me and 31st Street Swing Left to support independent Dan Osborn as he tries to unseat GOP US Senator Deb Fischer. October 10 at 6 p.m. Eastern / 3 pm Pacific. Here is the LINK TO REGISTER for this free event. 

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Friday Zoom fundraiser for Debbie Mucarsel-Powell (Florida) and Colin Allred (Texas)

On October 11, 6:00 p.m. Eastern / 3:00 p.m. Pacific, I will be moderating an event sponsored by Senate Circle for Debbie Mucarsel-Powell (FL) and Colin Allred (TX). Both started as underdog challengers whose campaigns have greatly benefited from the burst of enthusiasm surrounding the nominations of Harris & Walz.

I will sign on 20 minutes early to chat with readers who join the call. Please RSVP or donate now on the ActBlue page. The minimum donation to participate in the Zoom is $100.

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Join Airlift to support efforts to reach women in rural and small-town communities

Abortion is on the ballot everywhere this year, and to ensure that abortion rights are protected, we need to flip the House from Red to Blue. Moderate women in rural, small-town, and suburban communities are the key to victory.

Join Airlift on Thursday, October 17, 5:00 PT / 8:00 ET, to learn how Galvanize Action motivates these women through research-backed messaging to vote their Blue values on issues like abortion, healthcare, childcare, and other aspects of the “care economy.”

Winning back the House goes through California, and three of those flippable districts are in the Central Valley. That’s why we’re thrilled to also hear from leaders of Airlift Partner Communities for a New California (CNC), which mobilizes Latina women there to vote Blue using person-to-person, values-driven outreach on abortion and pocketbook issues. CNC knows the power of these women as leaders in their families and communities to flip the House and so much more. Help CNC thwart the GOP’s extremist agenda, including their determination to control what women can do with their own bodies.

Sign up here.

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Concluding Thoughts

Over the past two days, I have shared hopeful stories from volunteers who canvassed in swing states. We must hear those stories because they provide insight into America's mood without the horse-race filter imposed by the media.

But embedded in those stories were references to voters who responded with “Get off my lawn”—or worse. I have heard privately from other readers canvassing in deep red areas who experienced open hostility while walking streets dotted with Trump signs. And they have heard from Democrats in those areas who don’t feel “safe” putting Harris/Walz signs in their yards. My wife and I witnessed that dynamic during our drive down the Mississippi in the spring of this year.

The nation is roughly evenly divided in terms of partisan identification. But only one side is engaging in harassing and bullying behavior designed to intimidate and silence their opposition.

What should we make of such behavior? On the one hand, it emulates the tactics of the MAGA leader. But on the other hand, it betrays weakness and fear. The schoolyard bully engages in preemptive harassment to deter challengers and conceal insecurity. If you are confident in your position, you don’t need to bully the smallest kid in the class or fly a 40-foot Trump flag from the back of your pickup.

So, too, with the avalanche of lies reaching a crescendo with Hurricanes Helene and Milton. If Trump believed he was winning, he wouldn’t need to make up stories about immigrants eating dogs and FEMA seizing homes. He is doing so because he sees no other path to victory.

So, while the offensive and aggressive behavior can be unsettling, recognize it for the weakness it betrays. They smell defeat and are panicking. We must remain calm and carry on with our GOTV efforts, which have served us well so far. We can take nothing for granted, and we must sprint through the finish line. But we should do so with the confidence and joy that comes from being free to speak the truth about the state of race. Lying is for losers!

Keep up the good work!

To those in the path of Hurricane Milton, stay safe!

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Daily Dose of Perspective

The image below includes two galaxies: Bode’s Galaxy (M81) and the Cigar Galaxy (M82). Both are located 12 million light-years from Earth and have respective diameters of 96,000 and 40,800 light-years.

How do we calculate the distance to far away galaxies? The answer to that question is one of the great stories of scientific discovery of the 20th century. At the center of that story is Henrietta Leavitt, a graduate of Radcliffe College who worked as a “human computer” at the Harvard College Observatory from 1898 to 1921. She carefully cataloged stars on glass photographic plates created each night at Harvard (and other observatories). Through her sheer power of careful observation and brilliant deduction, she hypothesized that stellar distances could be calculated by using the relationship between the luminosity and alternating “period” of a particular type of variable star. She was right.

Leavitt should have received the Nobel Prize for her work. Instead, later astronomers used her brilliant insight without credit to calculate the distances to stars and galaxies outside of the Milky Way. Edwin Hubble’s great contributions to astronomy used Leavitt’s insights without attribution. (Hubble would later say that Leavitt deserved the Nobel Prize for her discoveries.)

For those of you interested in astronomy, women in science, or inspiring stories about science, I recommend Attention Is Discovery by Anna Von Mertens (2024 MIT Press), a beautifully illustrated book about the life and legacy of Henrietta Leavitt. Without Leavitt, I might not be able to casually say, “M81 is 12 million light-years from Earth.”