During his press conference yesterday at his golf club, the President announced he’d be signing s series of executive orders (EOs) over the next several weeks. Almost all of these are actions that are outside his authority to take. One in particular, however, has drawn a lot of derision.
#BREAKING: President Trump announces executive order on pre-existing conditions: "I'll be pursuing a major executive order requiring health insurance companies to cover pre-existing conditions for all of its customers." pic.twitter.com/iOQH5kKILg
— The Hill (@thehill) August 8, 2020
It was then trumpeted by several surrogates in both the administration and the campaign:
Huge news just now – @realDonaldTrump announces upcoming EO to cover pre-existing conditions. Big, big, big news.
— Jason Miller (@JasonMillerinDC) August 7, 2020
THIS. IS. LEADERSHIP.@realDonaldTrump just announced that he’s going to sign an upcoming Executive Order to cover pre-existing conditions.
— J. Hogan Gidley (@JHoganGidley) August 8, 2020
The response have ranged from the humorous to the fully sarcastic:
Next up, Donald to announce he’ll extend voting rights to POC… https://t.co/BVzEj8AYl5
— David Cay Johnston (@DavidCayJ) August 8, 2020
You like this? Wait until I tell you what Barack Obama did!
— Janet Johnson (@JJohnsonLaw) August 8, 2020
BREAKING: Trump writes memo about thing that Obama already made law 10 years ago.
— The Hoarse Whisperer (@HoarseWisperer) August 8, 2020
The ACA literally is still the law: right now. It remains the law of the land.
Do I really have to explain basic law to you? https://t.co/TzKfs2tSsn
— Bradley P. Moss (@BradMossEsq) August 8, 2020
This is not a joke, nor should it be treated as one. If you think it is a joke, you’ve missed the point. This, like so many other things I keep pointing out here, is a type of influence operation. What most Americans, even those of us who are hyper-vigilant when it comes to political news and information about health insurance because we’ve got Dave Anderson keeping us informed here every day, either don’t know or don’t remember is that THERE ARE A LOT OF HEALTH INSURANCE PLANS THAT WERE PITCHED AT BOTH TRUMP SUPPORTERS, LOW INFORMATION AMERICANS, AND LESS AFFLUENT AMERICANS THAT DO NOT COVER PRE-EXISTING CONDITIONS!!!!!!!
And the reason that these health care plans exist is because Republican elected officials complained about them not existing from the time the Affordable Care Act, now doing business as ObamaCare, passed. They had a screwy version of them in their nebulous replace plan that they were allegedly going to pass after they passed repeal, which would then, supposedly, force them to actually introduce something that could be called a replacement bill. And they exist because the President signed an executive order allowing for them when the Republican efforts to repeal and replace the ACA failed in 2017.
NOTE: Trump expanded health plans that *exclude coverage for pre-existing conditions*
They are called "short-term" plans but Trump allowed them to be extended for years.
United Healthcare notes these plans *do not have coverage requirements* pic.twitter.com/AzP3aJPVDY
— Steven Dennis (@StevenTDennis) August 8, 2020
Trump has signed an executive order encouraging cheap insurance plans that aren't subject to Obamacare rules: https://t.co/UzzyqJUVYV
— MarketWatch (@MarketWatch) October 12, 2017
President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday directing federal agencies to consider expanding health-insurance coverage in low-cost plans that are not subject to Affordable Care Act rules, a move that could raise costs for sicker people.
The order is designed to provide what the White House calls “alternatives” to plans offered through Obamacare markets. It comes after the implosion last month of Republicans’ latest attempt to dismantle President Barack Obama’s signature health-care law, a chief policy goal that Trump and GOP lawmakers campaigned on.
Speaking before signing the order at a White House ceremony, Trump said consumers “will have so many options.”
“People will have great, great health care,” he added.
Everyone who is making fun of the President’s announcement or his administration, campaign, and media surrogates doing victory laps about this on social media because they think it is a joke since it is already the law because of the Affordable Care Act need to sober up because they have missed the point. It is not a joke, it is a psychological operation aimed by the President, his administration, his campaign, and his surrogates, included Republican elected officials at Americans (emphasis mine):
Psychological operations (PSYOP) are planned operations to convey selected information and indicators to foreign audiences to influence the emotions, motives, objective reasoning, and ultimately the behavior of foreign governments, organizations, groups, and individuals.
The real objective of this executive order is not to ensure that insurance plans cover people with pre-existing conditions. Rather, the objective is to convince Republicans and conservatives who have hated the ACA/Obamacare, especially those that don’t know what is in it because they don’t want to because it is Obama’s plan. It is also targeted at less affluent and lower information Americans who have internalized the misinformation and agitprop about the ACA/Obamacare that Republican elected and appointed officials and conservative elites and notables have been pushing through conservative news, digital news, and social media for a decade and, as a result, actually believe that any plan that they could purchase through the ACA/Obamacare is both prohibitively expensive and does not actually cover anything because the policies are full of loopholes! And who were gullible enough to then buy one of the short term plans created by the President 17 October 2017 EO. This is the target audience. The better informed ones don’t care that the Administration is supporting the Republican Attorneys General’s lawsuit trying to have the entire ACA struck down, which would actually remove the pre-existing condition protections in the law for everyone in the US not on one of these short term plans. And the low information ones simply don’t know. What they know of current political events, including what is going on with health insurance, is either very little or is filtered through their local news, where Sinclair has an overwhelming influence and impact, or their or their families’ and friends’ social media, which means it is highly influence by Fox News, OANN, Breitbart, Gateway Pundit, the Daily Caller, and dozens more purveyors of misinformation, disinformation, and agitprop.
This is NOT A JOKE! It is an influence operation intended to further solidify a base that the President’s campaign leadership is worried might get shaky, the larger Republican party and conservative movement, which is a bit wobbly right now, and less affluent and low information Americans, especially low information voters, who will see or hear or read this and think the President has done something good for them.
That’s not the joke, that’s the point.
Open thread!
debbie
And Obama didn’t need no stinkin’ Executive Order either!
Adam, I think you give him far too much credit, smart-wise.
No One of Consequence
Hey, you guys remember way back when some jackal used to always mention tumbrels?
And we all thought it was all a bit of hyperbolic good fun?
‘Member those days?
Those were good days…
Peace,
– NOoC
Comrade Scrutinizer
No, it’s not a joke; but public derision of Fat Bastard helps to mitigate the effect of the op. To not respond that the protections already exist under ACA clears the field for those who want to reinforce the message that Trump is doing something positive.
Mallard Filmore
Will insurance companies that sold these junk plans sue to invalidate the EO?
Are the insurance companies selling junk plans fly-by-night organizations?
Do “real” insurance companies that sold junk plans have enough exposure to go bankrupt?
Adam L Silverman
@Mallard Filmore: No one actually knows what it means, let alone if he’s really going to sign anything in the next two weeks. The whole thing is just a blatant influence op.
Mart
And by the time the actuaries of the junk plans add the cost of adding pre-existing conditions and the cheap plans skyrocket in price, the election is over. Same old ratfucking they always do. Hammering away at good programs that help people – it’s what they do.
Nora
What should our response be, then? I understand why we shouldn’t treat it as a joke, but what should we be saying?
Obviously that he’s ignorant that this is already covered by Obamacare. Obviously that what he’s suggesting will just cost people money and give them nothing (I’m seeing lots of that kind of pushback). Maybe that this is a sign that Trump is not plugged in?
Seriously, what should the response to a psyops be?
Adam L Silverman
@Comrade Scrutinizer: No it doesn’t. All of our empirical data tells us that it is almost impossible to move someone off of a cognitive position with polite attempts to using accurate information, because people dig into their incorrect assumptions. Using derision just increases the effect. The only way this wouldn’t have been effective is if the reporting, especially the headline writing and the lede, had made it very clear what this actually was. And the reporting, once again, failed to do that.
Derision may make you feel better, but it isn’t actually helping combat this.
Adam L Silverman
@Nora: The only way this wouldn’t have been effective is if the reporting, especially the headline writing and the lede, had made it very clear what this actually was. And the reporting, once again, failed to do that.
Nora
@Adam L Silverman: Oh, so we have to rely on the media to do their job. Right. We’re doomed, then.
Yutsano
@Adam L Silverman: Okay the media failed. That’s normal operating procedure for them. Now what?
Adam L Silverman
@Yutsano: Now nothing. You get one shot at these things.
wvng
And this is why anything Adam writes is required reading. Thank you Adam for looking underneath the news to see what is actually happening. Based on the series of tweets by Trump people extolling this, it is clear that this was thought out and planned as an operation.
Elizabelle
@Adam L Silverman: So it would seem the way to respond is to email the reporters, email the editors, email the newspaper or TV/cable station?
Squeaky wheel? Remind them that they need to cover Trump stories accurately, and drop the he said/he said shit. Put the statement in context.
I was really irritated by all the “Congress fails” stories and headlines WRT coronavirus financial relief, when it was Republicans.
Heather Long, a Rhodes Scholar (!) who is now an Economics correspondent at the WaPost was utterly ridiculous on this. All she ever said was “Congress, congress, congress.” No context for why these American people and businesses are struggling.
Will put up her article in a moment; curious if it’s been revised, because the top reader comments were brutal. We are sick of this shit.
Amir Khalid
@Adam L Silverman:
I’ve read that it might work, touch wood, to engage them to explore the consequences of their position.
A Ghost to Most
Meh. Another distraction from the symptom. Soon, the disease may discard him and proclaim Tom Cotton the real Sun King.
lee
My wife pointed out if this EO is actually targeting those cheap short term policies, those cheap short term policies are going to go away.
Which is why this being a PsyOps makes more sense.
Adam L Silverman
@wvng: This is all Bill Stepien and Jason Miller from the campaign. They may be loathsome, especially Miller, but they actually know what they’re doing.
Eolirin
@Yutsano: Now we do what we were always going to have to do anyway, GOTV.
This stuff only matters at the margins. It’s a handicap we’re going to have to deal with until or unless there’s media reform. We just need to mobilize enough people that it doesn’t matter.
Elizabelle
Up on WaPost website at top right now. People, Trump is not a monarch. And half of Congress did its job. Tell the fucking truth, please.
As pandemic relief talks flounder, Trump prepares executive actions
The president signaled he was ready to forge ahead without Congress to try to address lapsed economic relief measures for millions of Americans, but he stopped short of declaring negotiations dead.
burnspbesq
You’re becoming Chicken Little, Silverman.
This particular psyop is a waste of time and resources. Anybody stupid enough to enroll in one of those plans is already a Trump voter. It’s not going to move the needle.
Adam L Silverman
@Elizabelle: it couldn’t hurt, but I don’t think it’ll help. The news media, especially journalists and duties who cover politics, seem impervious.
Adam L Silverman
@Amir Khalid: Might is doing a lot of work there.
Eolirin
@burnspbesq: I think it’s intended as a defensive move to prevent further loss of support from that group, so no, I don’t think it’s pointless. But it isn’t a sign things are going in their favor.
Without the media failing at this stuff, there’d be bigger base erosion and we might pick up a few more local seats, close senate races. It’s a real problem. But we need to focus on what we have control over and organize to win everywhere we can.
taumaturgo
@Yutsano: It would seem the Democratic leadership is perpetually asking the same question, now what?
Sab
Adam, thanks for this post.
Re: GOTV. In Ohio it is not too early to send off your absentee ballot request.
taumaturgo
@Yutsano: It would seem that the Democratic leadership is asking the same question, now what?
patrick II
@Adam L Silverman:
I was going to ask if the executive order would affect “short term” insurance policies and bring them into the no pre-existing conditions insurance realm and perhaps be something actually useful. If so, it would seem to be against everything Trump stands for — profit from the pain and despair of others. So, I couldn’t figure it. But you are right, saying he is going to sign something and signing something are two different things. And the wording counts. It may functionally do nothing except having a misleading name.
So, it is 1. propaganda, and 2. harmful. O.K. that fits right in. I can know the Trumpian universe keeps its order.
germy
They’re struggling for power to see who can get trumpf to do what they want.
Quaker in a Basement
@Comrade Scrutinizer: Correct response. OK, it’s not a joke, but it still deserves derision.
Frankensteinbeck
Yes, it’s a joke. It’s another idiotic PR stunt by the administration, conceived in Trump’s jealousy and stupidity and need to be praised, that is already rebounding and making Trump look worse rather than better. Just like all the Burisma stuff you’ve been claiming will have an effect for months and never did. Stop pretending these people are competent and we should be terrified when they’re flailing.
EDIT – Tara Reade? How did that work out for them?
germy
@patrick II:
Yes, I thought it meant his plan is to destroy Obamacare, replace it with Trumpcare, but assure his fans that they shouldn’t worry about what the lying democrat party keeps saying about pre-existing conditions.
rikyrah
The muthaphuckas who believe this are the same ones who believe Kynect didn’t mean Obamacare.
I know it’s not a joke, Adam.
But, seriously,what are we supposed to do except for screm
IT’S ALREADY LAW BECAUSE OF OBAMACARE MUTHAPHUCKAS.
whew…felt good to get that off the chest.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Adam L Silverman:
When then I guess we’re doomed
I mean, what other message am I supposed to glean from this post?
germy
@Frankensteinbeck: Let’s just go with the assumption that everything trump does is to destroy whatever Obama accomplished, and then work backward from that.
It’s what his staff has to do every day: construct some sort of basis for his hatred of Obama.
Mike Adamson
I wonder if it wouldn’t make it easier for the Supreme Court to toss the ACA because the Administration has considered consequences and provided a backstop in the form of an EO. Of course the order can be reversed whenever but I could see some winking and nodding taking place.
germy
Every one of trump’s proclamations reminds me of those Revere Mortgage TV ads where Tom Selleck says “This isn’t some scheme to take your house” and then at the end there’s a giant paragraph of tiny disclaimer print saying “This is a scheme to take your house this is a scheme to take your house this is a scheme to…”
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Frankensteinbeck:
I agree
debbie
@Sab:
SOS LaRose says he’s mailing them to every registered voter.
patrick II
@germy:
I eventually figured out that Tom Selleck isn’t Magnum P.I.
Quaker in a Basement
@Adam L Silverman: OK, OK.
I have reread your post three times and I can’t find anything beyond pious scolding in it. You’ve laid the blame on the press. The only way we peons get the press to take a closer look is to get a reaction trending on social media. And what trends? Humor, sarcasm, parody, derision.
LuciaMia
Swear to God, have to take a break from all this. It very well may be true but the sense of despair is getting to me.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@patrick II:
Didn’t the show Magnum PI buy into the whole MIA-POW still trapped in Vietnam conspiracy theory? Plus, I remember Magnum murdering his unarmed former Soviet tormentor in Vietnam in cold blood at the end of an episode
I watched pretty much every episode, loved the show, but it could be conservative at times
Bluegirlfromwyo
@Quaker in a Basement: Seriously. If there’s nothing to be done about it, may as well laugh at it and needle the press about it. Better than sitting around crying. Unless attempts at countering harm our causes but I didn’t see that here
Amir Khalid
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
As it happens, Tom Selleck is a conservative Republican.
Frankensteinbeck
@Amir Khalid:
Man. Can you imagine that Clint Eastwood was famous in Hollywood for giving good parts to black actors and treating them with respect? Then a black man became his boss (Obama) and he devolved into yelling at an empty chair.
Tokyokie
@germy:
I thought Obama being a charismatic and competent black man who rose from modest circumstances to become a highly regarded president was reason enough for the fat oaf and his minions to hate him.
patrick II
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
Yeah, conservative a military tough guy way, but not in the take the suckers and fellow Americans for everything they got kind of way. Magnum wouldn’t sell out.
mdblanche
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): DOOO…
debbie
@burnspbesq:
His base may love this, but the insurance companies will hate this even more. Who’s got the deeper pockets? Trump’s just shot himself in his tiny foot yet again.
patrick II
@Frankensteinbeck:
Being a black man’s boss is different from having a black man who is boss. That difference is a reason African Americans respect Joe.
Frankensteinbeck
@burnspbesq:
Or hates him for setting them up to be shafted, and him fixing one small part of the problem he inflicted on them is not going to earn their love.
JPL
@lee: The president lies. He’s just taking a position away for the democrats. Someone needs to ask him why he supported short term plans that did not have to cover preexisting conditions?
VOR
I agree with Adam. This EO will be trumpeted on Facebook, Fox News, OANN, and similar (dis)information networks. The low-information and media bubble types will hear that Trump is protecting them, doing by EO something tangible which the “Demoncrats” in Congress couldn’t get done. Hail the man of accomplishments, truly looking out for the forgotten man. Trump cares about us!
They will completely miss the part where the ACA already solved the problem years ago, because none of their media will tell them that detail.
Honestly, Trump could issue a proclamation the sun will rise in the East and set in the West and his base would praise him for the innovation. Look at the BS this week with convicted felon Dinesh D’Souza claiming “Thighland” was the real, proper pronunciation of the country Thailand because the Great Leader said it that way.
Benw
@Quaker in a Basement: “And what trends? Humor, sarcasm, parody, derision.”
Call it the “Centuwian, why do they titter so? Effect”!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlADJpNtS_s
Kent
Folks….
He hasn’t actually signed ANY executive orders here, and he won’t. Because actually drafting one that won’t have ridiculous unintended consequences is difficult.
The whole game here is to ANNOUNCE a future executive order, soak up one day of media coverage, and then move on and fail to follow through. It’s the game he always plays and the game he is currently playing with the covid relief executive orders he is threatening but hasn’t revealed because they are utterly unconstitutional.
On the other hand, if a president can, with a stroke of a pen, allocate 3 TRILLION worth of spending and change tax rates then imagine with president Biden is going to be able to do!!!
piratedan
sigh… I don’t think we’re the intended audience for the Trump announcement as Adam is saying. It’s just more shit that the folks in the media will use to promote that horse race that they so urgently desire. It’s to “both sides” the healthcare issue against the people who are not political junkies who are likely to cast votes… by conflating this weak ass shit as some sort of progress, which all of his ass-kissers will gleefully fall in line with and those national sources who are sure that this is the Presidential Fucking Pivot that we’ve all been waiting for, finally Trump is rising to meet the national crisis yada yada yada.
So it’s once more into the disinformation breach for us to preach to those that will listen and to be aware that this is the same shit sandwich it’s always been, but this time it’s on a hoagie roll instead of ciabatta bread.
Frankensteinbeck
@VOR:
@piratedan:
Hasn’t been working so far. Trump is hated, and he’s too incompetent to move that needle. Everything he tries turns to shit.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Amir Khalid:
Unfortunately. Selleck’s laugh while playing Magnum was hilarious
Another Scott
Thanks for this, Adam.
But let’s game this out.
If these junk “insurance” policies are forced to cover pre-existing conditions, then surely the price will either go up or the companies will cease to offer them. (After all, if they wanted to offer p-e coverage for this price, then they would have done so.)
So, if Donnie actually has the power to force such a policy change, then expect companies to drop these policies. Donnie can’t force companies to offer policies after all…
So much winning… :-/
Cheers,
Scott.
Ruckus
@debbie:
He may be giving the singular man too much credit, but the people who work for and employ shitforbrains aren’t as ignorant, nor as obvious as he is. This is exactly what Adam says it is. They finally got the guy in office that is manipulative enough that if they pull the right levers, they get the result they want. Which is why they supported him in the first place. Don’t say the quite parts out loud was taking way too long to work, money was not all flowing to their or their owners pockets and they are running out of time to pull off the scam of all time, which is to actually get paid to purchase a country for pennies on the dollar. They needed a front man that wouldn’t complain about being a criminal and would be the fall guy. shitforbrains is the perfect patsy for this. He’s manipulatable, malleable, cheap, an obvious racist and with the right criminals surrounding him, can do all the damage necessary for them to own the country. It’s the scam they’ve been working on for decades. And they won’t get hurt if it all goes to shit. At least that’s the plan.
Amir Khalid
@VOR:
While YouTubing, I happened once upon a debate between Dinesh and Bible scholar Bart Ehrman. Ehrman cleaned his clock so thoroughly that I actually felt sorry for the odious little poser.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@mdblanche:
LOL. M^4 would be proud
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@patrick II:
Magnum wasn’t a plutocrat
piratedan
@Frankensteinbeck: I think I’ll wait long enough to see how this gets disseminated first before I start determining if this moves the needle or not. Not gonna declare victory because an idiotic hot take hasn’t taken hold, the GOP tactic is mindless and endless repetition (they had 30 years to work on HRC), but this just got born, and as much as I would like to get this crushed in its infancy I’m not sure that will happen.
Calouste
@Nora: The media is doing their job, in that they are doing what they get paid for. And what the get paid for isn’t telling the truth. At best they get paid for contributing to the bottom line of the company they are employed by. At worst it’s for contributing to the bottom line of some other entity altogether.
Sab
@debbie: I personally do not trust LaRose to do it in a timely manner to Democrats. He is, after all, an Ohio Republican Secretary of State. Husted played voter suppression games. Blackwell played voter suppression games. Also too they are blowing up the USPS.
Lord Fartdaddy (Formerly, Mumphrey, Smedley Darlington Mingobat, et al.)
I’m so fucking sick of these people. I hate them, all of them. There’s no way this country is going to make it if we don’t wipe the floor with them this fall.
Bex
Heard on MSNBC earlier that Trump was having another “press conference” this afternoon. Is he panicking?
Jesse
@Amir Khalid: There’s a lot of research on this phenomenon. For an interesting introduction, check out David McRaney’s excellent You Are Not So Smart podcast, episode 93, on what’s called the backfire effect: trying to disabuse people people of entrenched, mistaken beliefs causes them (in most cases) backfires: they double down . It’s part one (of four, I believe) on the subject. Here’s a more comprehensive discussion (by McRaney).
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
Quick question to anyone who knows: is Congress certifying an election just a formality?
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@piratedan:
We shouldn’t assume it won’t either
Ruckus
@Another Scott:
What if the plan is to make them “illegal” so that they can offer a different policy at a higher price? Scams only last till enough people have been suckered. Once they try to use the policy and get fucked over the chances are they might learn. So you have to keep upping the game. And at some point you have to adapt an entirely new game. And this is not the first time one of the people (shitforbrains) being manipulated is “part” of the scam.
germy
https://wnyt.com/politics/biden-risks-alienating-young-black-voters-after-race-remarks/5820709/?cat=66
such bullshit concern trolling from Alexandra Jaffe
debbie
@Sab:
Minority Leader Emilia Sykes will certainly speak up if he tries wriggling out of his commitment. She doesn’t put up with anyone’s crap.
BroD
Quite right, Adam: it’s flagrant bullshit which many of us who find healthcare an exercise in confusion will eat with gusto.
JaySinWA
I am guessing this will be touted as an answer to the criticism that repealing the ACA removes the pre-existing condition part of the bill. The mighty Trump single handedly shoring up your insurance. I doubt it will ever be put to paper, and if it is it may grandfather short term plans (or not, because they aren’t that bright). So yes, propaganda. With lack of implementation just as forgettable as the failure to come up with at replacement for the ACA as promised over and over.
Woodrow/asim
Frankly? There’s no simple answer. “Formality” is doing a lot of work there, and your question (and intent) is unclear, making it hard to answer clearly.
But basically: Congress is just the poll worker(s) for the Electoral College in most cycles. They don’t really “certify,” they just report what the vote count says. Indeed, the text of the 12th Amendment uses the work “certify” for what the Electoral College does — not what Congress does after the EC sends the vote tallies to them.
Congress only comes into play if, and only if, the there’s a tie. Then, basically, the House has the option to choose the President, or let it fall to the secession rules.
Frankensteinbeck
@Bex:
Yes. He’s also bored and pissy. He’s not getting the external validation he requires to keep from emotionally collapsing.
Dan B
@Quaker in a Basement: I believe Adam’s point is to be aware of what is being done. Many times nothing can be done but awareness serves a purpose. Conservatives put a great deal of effort and lucre into marketing. They are comfortable with marketing to the masses and targeted audiences. They believe it works and know it often fails but it is effective often enough.
Liberals and Democrats value data, especially data backed by experts and thorough research. That’s where the effort and money are allocated. Lewis Powell wrote his memorandum that is the founding document on how conservatives should invest in institutions to influence the public discourse. It provided the template for “Think” Tanks like AEI. Have these produced thorough research, a bit, but their primary purpose is to repackage conservative principles, and regressive thought, in clever new ways. All of these “Think” Tanks have studios where pundits can rehearse and potenrial spokespeople can be trained. They crank out product 24/7 – 365 days a year.
When Democrats make a similar investment we may see progress. Howard Dean’s 50 state strategy had one aspect right. It took Nixon’s disaster to motivate Justice Powell. Adam is hoping to awaken us to why we need to have preemptive capacity and massive rapid response capability 24/7 – 365.
Xavier
When I heard about the EO, I wondered if McConnell wasn’t sandbagging to make Trump look like the hero.
Chyron HR
Looks like just another thread full of saps who don’t know Adam Silverman is a political scientist who’s been involved in numerous secret raids on Al-Quaeda, and has over 300 confirmed kills. If he says Trump automatically wins always you just need to cope, end of story.
Gin & Tonic
In the meantime, results have been announced and Aleksandr Lukashenka received 67% of the vote in tomorrow’s presidential elections in Belarus.
mvr
I kind of think everyone laughing knows it is not an intentional joke, and also that it is an attempt at propaganda. For a certain audience making fun of it is making fun of them and you are right that it will likely entrench their prior commitments.
But to take it as making fun of oneself, one already has to have the commitment that is being made fun of. Probably those people are never going to give up on the Orange Menace. What of the not so committed? I’m thinking that tweets and posts that frame his promised executive order as redoing what Obamacare already has done won’t get that response. As you point out, people tend to stick with what they hear first. In these tweets and posts what they hear first is that Trump did something redundant and either stupid or designed to fool people. Then they hear what he says he’s going to do. The first message is about Trump’s stupidity; the second message is the specifics of it. So I’m not sure that the research about the effects of primacy on what people remember and believe really cuts against making fun of this.
🐾BillinGlendaleCA
It’s not a joke, it’s an admission of weakness on the Trump campaign’s part. They’re worried about FURTHER erosion in their base voters(both voting for Biden or not voting at all). IOW, they know their position is fucked.
Villago Delenda Est
@Adam L Silverman: My nym. Over and over again.
Wipe them out. All of them.
Heywood J.
This EO story is incredibly annoying, and I get what Adam is saying about it being essentially a psy-op. The one consolation to it is that the only people stupid enough to buy into it are the same people who were stupid enough to be voting for him again anyway. It’s self-reinforcing for the cultists, but it gains him no new votes. There are no new customers for that particular cup of kool-aid.
It is now up to the leaders of the opposition party to flood the proverbial zone and provide a consistent, unified message decrying this cheap stunt, to remind their base that they really do have their backs on this, to remind everyone of the lie that while Chump is signing his worthless EO, his dirtbag lawyers are still in court trying to get rid of those very requirements. The word “liar” should be used freely and with conviction.
There is no “middle” to “meet” in, and they need to stop hoping and pretending that there is.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
No, it’s more like some cheesy salesman stunt.
Villago Delenda Est
@germy: The AP is an element of the Village.
Standard response applies.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@A Ghost to Most: That’s a good point, the stupid has been strong with Cotton and he doesn’t have the luzer stink Trump has.
Heywood J.
@Lord Fartdaddy (Formerly, Mumphrey, Smedley Darlington Mingobat, et al.): I wish I could upvote this a million times, seriously. I am so goddamned tired of these scumbags, and every one of their supporters. There are days when I wish they’d get what they’re asking for, good and hard. If I didn’t have a 19-y.o. about to enter into this great big fucked-up world, I really wouldn’t care anymore.
Heywood J.
@🐾BillinGlendaleCA: The Aristocrats!
Mary G
I hope you are so pessimistic because you live among Florida Men and Women, Adam. I am more sure this isn’t going to move undecided voters towards Trump, because of all the red states that have expanded Medicaid through the ballot, and coronavirus. Lots of red staters currently spending weeks in the ICU will get ginormous medical bills that nothing but government insurance can cover.
Sab
@debbie: Good point. She’s my rep.
rp
Stop calling this an “op.” It’s just a lie by a desperate politician.
David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch
If it was an influence operation he wouldn’t have done it during a Friday news dump, during the dog days of summer.
He did this because, for once, the media was mocking him for one of his usual lies – in this case that he would have a “full health care plan in two weeks”, which he announced three weeks ago on the infamous Chris Wallace interview.
Heywood J.
@Nora:
Obviously that he’s ignorant that this is already covered by Obamacare.
That’s not obvious at all — in fact, it is almost entirely impossible that he wouldn’t know such a thing, that it hasn’t been explained to him countless times.
He’s counting on his moron base to not know better, and he’s counting on a supine corporate media to never challenge him on it. Since both of those groups clearly hate this country almost as much as he does, he’s made a safe bet on both counts.
🐾BillinGlendaleCA
@Bex:
Yes, he’s seeing very bad internals.
Tokyokie
@🐾BillinGlendaleCA:
And the intervals the fat oaf is seeing must be really bad, seeing as his staff polishes the turds to a gleaming sheen before showing them to him.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
You know, thinking about this, the surprise is Trump didn’t sign an order renaming “ACA” to “Trump Care”.
Quaker in a Basement
@Xavier: That would be a two-step sandbagging. First McConnell, then Mnuchin and Meadows.
Bill Arnold
@Adam L Silverman:
This plays out over several days, or more. Talk shows tomorrow(Sunday). Deeper dives next week. These can be influenced.
Bill Arnold
@Elizabelle:
Also, reporter twitter feeds are often low-volume and high-leverage. (Also, google/search engines can be leveraged to attract attention (e.g. by naming googleable names) if you’re so inclined.)
Brachiator
@debbie:
No, it’s that you may be underestimating the stupidity of his base. They want to believe that Trump is the sole source of everything they desire.
And Trump is happy to encourage this belief.
OGLiberal
The three most common comments I’ve seen on the twitters from wingnuts about this are:
I think all of them were 100% sincere. Also pretty certain #3 is bullshit, but not certain.
Subsole
@Brachiator: This. It isn’t stupidity. It is something far, far more malevolent.
Bill Arnold
@Jesse:
FWIW, this effect can be actively used to drive a subcommunity paranoid and psychotic from the perspective of the broader community.
Heywood J.
@Subsole: Hanlon’s Razor has been reversed.
Geminid
Nancy Pelosi will appear on the CNN Sunday morning politics show tomorrow. Also on Fox Sunday Morning. Should be good.
Chris Johnson
@Bill Arnold: …which is a useful effect when you need some form of sanity from your neighbors. Double them down into batshittery anthrax-munching hysteria, and they manufacture their own backlash.
Adam, some days I wonder if you’ve lost it. It seems to me all your fear is based on Beltway normativeness, and you can’t imagine a situation where that doesn’t rule. If Trump gets the talking heads nattering on in agreeing tones, you freak out. When you know full well they’re paid to sound that way, and everybody else has worked that out by now.
It would be nice if we have norms and the expectation of sanity, particularly from our media.
We don’t.
That’s how things like QAnon take hold, but that is also why this posturing by Trump is not as useful as you think it is.
cleek
AKA “politics”