Experts in autocracies have pointed out that it is, unfortunately, easy to slip into normalizing the tyrant, hence it is important to hang on to outrage. These incidents which seem to call for the efforts of the Greek Furies (Erinyes) to come and deal with them will, I hope, help with that. As a reminder, though no one really knows how many there were supposed to be, the three names we have are Alecto, Megaera, and Tisiphone. These roughly translate as “unceasing,” “grudging,” and “vengeful destruction.”
We spoke last week about language, and its use to communicate – and, more importantly, NOT to communicate or to miscommunicate and deceive. Also, to send messages that are implicit but not spoken; such messages are usually emotional rather than rational in nature, and received by the amygdala rather than the rational brain. For this reason, though they are transmitted by language, it’s not easy to counter them with language. Anyone who is sufficiently competent to recognize them as the deceptions they are is going to be competent – and inclined – to use language rationally, and that is just what does not work against these messages.
I think it may represent a recognition of that truth which leads Chauncey DeVega to write in the tone he uses addressing Trump’s comments on football, football players, the flag, and protests. I suspect he is going to get labeled “hysterical.” He isn’t. He is trying to reach sane people by communicating at least some of the raw emotion with which Trump fills his followers.
Here’s part of what Trump said this week:
You have to stand — proudly — for the national anthem or you shouldn’t be playing, you shouldn’t be there, maybe you shouldn’t be in the country.
Here’s a hint from DeVega on what this implies:
Patriotism is compulsory. Freedom of speech is undermined if not wholly overturned — especially for those who dare to criticize or otherwise oppose Donald Trump, his allies or his public. In a version of “blood and soil” racism, those who protest or otherwise dissent are to be expelled from the country — especially if they happen not to be white.
I am aware that there is no way in law that an American who has birthright citizenship can be stripped of it, and no way that a citizen can be legally deported. But – so what? We have laws against profiting from public office. We have laws against accepting any form of aid from any non-Americans in election campaigns. We have these and other laws which are being broken in plain sight every day. Why should we think this person who sits in the White House will not strip people of birthright citizenship by executive order? There is no guarantee of that.
DeVega quotes from Talia Levin on dissent, and also from Masha Gessen – actually from the same article I refer to (almost) every week in the first paragraph of this series – the section he quotes here is “Believe the autocrat.” And he raises – or attempts to raise – the alarm that Trump – and the Trump followers – are not just going to go away somehow. Authoritarian doe not JUST mean the person in power. It is a known personality type which also has follower sub-types, and it always has been and always will be with us. And in groups, it can wreak immense havoc unless it is stopped first.
Meanwhile, over at Mother Jones, there’s an interview with former FBI Special Agent Clint Watts, who, along with colleagues JM Berger and Andrew Weisburd, was among the first to notice what was going on with Russia and the Internet.
Watching this troll army inundate social media into 2015 and 2016—including rising attacks on Hillary Clinton and promotion of Donald Trump for president—Watts realized a new information war was underway. As he tracked false news stories from Russian state media that were repeated by the Trump campaign, he was surprised to see that Kremlin-linked disinformation was sometimes even driving the campaign’s own narrative. Two days before Election Day, Watts and his fellow cybersecurity analysts JM Berger and Andrew Weisburd warned that the Kremlin wasn’t just backing Trump but was seeking “to produce a divided electorate and a president with no clear mandate to govern. The ultimate objective is to diminish and tarnish American democracy.”
Mr. Watts has a book out now, Messing With the Enemy: Surviving in a Social Media World of Hackers, Terrorists, Russians, and Fake News. And possibly the most important thrust of what he has to say is – don’t get too hung up on the Russians. Yes, they started it. But what they started was a tidal wave in which every authoritarian in the world is now getting involved.
[W]e are incredibly stuck on 2016. Russia is not going to be the biggest player in this space. Russia kicked off the tidal wave, but now they just ride it. There have been a lot of authoritarians who’ve adopted their approach, with more devastating effect on their domestic populations. Cambodia, the Philippines, and Myanmar are three great examples.
And then there’s what I call “trolling as a service.” If our politics take on this information annihilation approach, we are in real trouble…. That’s the real fear everyone should look at: not Russian active measures, but American active measures through the hiring of cutouts, contractors, and tech companies.
It’s been a bumpy ride for the last year and a half – three and a half if you count the 2016 campaigns. And it’s only going to get bumpier. I can’t ask the Furies to do for us what we need to be doing ourselves – but Alecto, Megaera, Tisiphone – I can ask you to work through journalists to alert us to the dangers we are facing as they come up (or maybe just a little before they come up). And what we need to know even more is, how we should meet these dangers. Because what we are doing now is not working very well.
The Furies and I will be back.
Cross posted to Care2 HERE.
15 Responses to “Everyday Erinyes #123”
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.
If those furies were for real, the poor dames would be utterly exhausted – and probably turning to temporary agencies for help.
This mad excuse for an administration is why we need a massive Blue Wave. Hell, make that a Blue Tsunami – and it has to continue well past November. Do your research, and don’t support just any Democrats but the ones who truly support progress. No more “moderate” DINOs! I have done my part by voting, now do yours.
I fully agree with DeVega except for one thing. The Republican flag fetish has nothing to do with patriotism. It’s about nationalism, and in their case, white nationalism.
May 2018 begin the turnaround!
Great piece, JD!
Agree with you – you see, I saw invisible air quotes around the word “patriotism.” Because, of course, it isn’t – but they do use the word.
I knew you knew the difference. I wasn’t sure about DeVega.
Well, I’m not qualified to do a Vulcan mind meld, but short of that, I’m sure he does. He’s a sharp cookie.
Cool. Not knowing him, I saw no air quotes. When did you forget how to mind meld?
Oh, I never learned. I was in the military at the time … and they would not allow the eybrow and ear surgery, as it would require too drastic changes to my personnel records.
Most Illogical!
Excellent post, Joanne. MJ article is spot on.
Makes one ponder, and pray for ‘things’ to get turned around. This is certainly not a time of compliancy, nor to submit to how ‘things’ are going in this arena.
I am afraid, for those of us, who do NOT dismiss this man in the Oval Office, and for those of us who know, hear and listen to him on a daily basis, whether it’s tv, radio, or newspaper(s) or the internet. He is a very tangible threat to us all, and by standing up, and doing what is necessary by getting involved (starting locally), and voting in elections is tantamount for saving us all. For us, and for our future (generations).
Thanks, Furies, and Joanne for post.
Didn’t this “nationalism” approach get tried once before … over in Germany … about the early 1930s?
The demagoguing of Trump is getting to such a dangerous level that I think it almost to the point that it wouldn’t be terrible if Alecto, Megaera, Tisiphone added another “Furies” to the list whose name also ends in a vowel – say, like … Corleone!
Tried once before – yes indeed.
Last night, on an NPR show called “Performance Today,” one of the featured pieces was by Stravinsky, and the host noted it had been at least partially inspired by an incident in Munich in 1932. I was able to find the account on the Internet today – had to type it, so I hope there aren’t too many typos – but yes, this actually happened withing a month after Hitler became Chancellor.
I find it way too close to home.
Thank you, Joanne for the above story.
We read about this…and how it was back then, (History), and it’s happening here, slowly but surely, with this potus, and by his adoring brown-nosers, by his word(s) and deeds.
Yes,…..indeed frightening.
For a daughter of a German holocaust survivor, Drumpf’s ‘Blut und Boden’ statement felt like a ghost walked across the graves/ashes of my Jewish family. The Nazi’s had no problem with stripping German Jews of their birthright citizenship and deporting them to Polish concentration camps where they were exterminated. It wasn’t illegal, simply because they weren’t telling anyone – who cared – that they were doing it. So DeVega’s article isn’t hysterical to me, but rational enough for something written from the heart.
Thanks for highlighting that just because something is illegal doesn’t mean the Trump regime won’t do it. I would at one time have said “try it” instead of “do it,” but all their tries seem to be working.