Truth Hurts
You can judge a nation’s greatness by how it treats the marginalized in its communities and by whether it encourages kindness, tolerance, education,
and scientific expertise. When America excels at these things, we are indeed a great nation. Under Trump, we are objectively regressing in every one of these areas, and today, many American citizens are afraid of their government, which is a tell-tale sign that we are drifting towards authoritarianism.
Music by Suno, Lyrics by Me
Truth, integrity, and character have not simply been relegated to the backseat of our democracy – it’s worse than that – they’ve been thrown out of the car altogether, and now that vehicle travels recklessly as a putrid vessel of Presidential self-interest and self-preservation.
When an unrestrained and morally decrepit leader of a powerful nation flaunts the rule of law, the rest of us, the citizens of that nation, get splattered and stained by the consequences of his messy and lawless decisions.
We are muddied and sullied by association, and our ability to disassociate ourselves from his sick, twisted, and purely transactional worldview is hampered by the chokehold he and his supporters have put on the systems of checks and balances designed by our founders to prevent such a person from rising to power.
The Orange King – Music by Suno, Lyrics by Me
If you haven’t had a chance yet, please check out my book, My Paper, My Words: Rantings from a Progressive Boomer and Peeved Parent, from Amazon. And if you feel moved to write a review of the book, on Amazon, or anywhere else, I’d be honored.
My Paper, My Words is a collection of essays, stories, and poems that reflect the challenges of a middle-class husband and father trying to navigate a rapidly changing political, religious, and technological landscape of post-911 America.
Fascism and Oligarchy are familiar bedfellows that share several structural similarities, including the concentration of power, the suppression of dissent, the prioritization of ruling-class interests, and the erosion of democratic norms.
The repressive effect of fascism and oligarchy on citizens includes loss of political voice, economic inequality, reduced civil liberties, and social polarization. Horrifyingly, we’re seeing the effects of fascism and oligarchy in America today.
I understand the cynicism Americans feel around politics — and it is totally justified. But, to effectively fight the spread of fascism and oligarchy, we MUST participate in democratic processes, even when they feel imperfect. So, educate yourselves (and others), build cross-community solidarity, push for structural reforms, and stay connected and refuse isolation.
Music by Suno, Lyrics by me: Oligarchic Kings
If you haven’t had a chance yet, please check out my book, My Paper, My Words: Rantings from a Progressive Boomer and Peeved Parent, from Amazon. And if you feel moved to write a review of the book, on Amazon, or anywhere else, I’d be honored.
My Paper, My Words is a collection of essays, stories, and poems that reflect the challenges of a middle-class husband and father trying to navigate a rapidly changing political, religious, and technological landscape of post-911 America.
As the potential benefits and dangers of AI swirl around us in a maelstrom of fantastical headlines, social media posts, and academic articles, the social, technological, and economic landscape of the world depends on the ethics and morality of today’s gatekeepers in government and industry, and that should scare the fuck out of all of us.
We’re heading for a bleak future if an unregulated, callous first-to-market ethos, devoid of guardrails and ethics, drives the development and deployment of AI.
Pandora’s Vox, Music by Suno, lyrics by me.
For the last several weeks, I’ve been pushing my poems through the Suno AI music generator to see how they work as song lyrics.
I’m no Suno expert. In fact, I’m sure that I’m barely scratching the surface of its capabilities.
My process is simple (bordering on rudimentary).
Suno generates two songs based on the criteria I entered. Next, I listen to the songs. I can tell right away whether I like what I hear, and often, I delete the song only after the first few bars. Other times, I find that some of my lyrics “work” nicely, while others don’t flow with the music and need tweaking.
I usually have the lyrics open in a text document as I listen to the song, pausing to rework my phrasing to better match the song’s cadence and rhythm. I add or delete verses, move chunks of text around, then have Suno create a new version of the song (with the same criteria). When I have the new songs with my lyrical updates, I go through the same listening and editing exercise.
It’s a very iterative process—and probably not the best way to use the tool. I haven’t managed to fiddle with the remixing and song editing features.
Poems don’t always have a verse-chorus structure commonly found in songs, so reworking these poems into lyrics often involves coming up with a memorable/catchy chorus. That has been the most fun and challenging part of this project.
Some poems that I envisioned as rap or hip-hop songs end up sounding better as rockabilly/country western songs. Switching the vocals from male to female can give a song an entirely new feel.
With Suno, I’ve repurposed my poems into thoughtful, memorable, and singable songs, even though I have no musical skills (I’m not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing, but it’s definitely a thing). The following table summarizes my “collaborations” with Suno that are publicly available for listening.
I’d love to hear what folks think of these songs or of AI music in general. Post your comments here or on Suno. And please follow me on either platform.
| Song | About the Lyrics |
| Baby Teeth and Bullets | These lyrics are from a poem I wrote years ago after a spate of school shootings. I really like how Suno split the lyrics between male and female vocalists without me specifically directing it. I always heard this poem musically in my head, even when I was writing it. And, I always envisioned a female vocalist singing the “I see angels” part – it was like Suno was reading my mind on how to turn this poem into a song. Favorite Verse: I’m the isolated Incel The bullet in the gun The angry white American Who’s blaming everyone I’m the cryptic manifesto The video online The AR-15 lover-boy Who grew-up Columbine |
| Pierced Hearts and Sorrow | I wrote the poem “Pierced Hearts and Sorrow” after the mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas. I also wrote a short story titled “That Final Hug” inspired by that horrible day. I’d gladly give up this type of inspiration if it meant fewer mass shootings where children are murdered in their classrooms. I hate that I feel compelled to write these types of poems. I think Suno captured the mood and tone of what I was trying to convey with my words. Favorite Lyric: We live in a land of pierced hearts and sorrow no shooting today? just wait till tomorrow In a fog of futility explicably numb we reach for our heartstrings but there’s nothing to strum |
| Hey Fascist, Catch | These lyrics are from a poem I wrote after the Charlie Kirk assassination. It’s about how dangerously divided America is and the potential for spiraling political violence that seems increasingly likely in the second Trump term. Favorite Verse: We ought to run from martyrdom not pin it to our chest not canonize the hateful guys who scream that they know best |
| Ashes to Ashes | I wrote a poem called “Ashes to Ashes” ten or more years ago. I fiddled with it and published it on my blog about 5 years ago. With some significant edits and a revamped chorus, here it is with Suno’s light touch. Favorite Verse: We stretch our souls tight on a drum We beat it bare till it goes numb We feel the eyes of everyone |
| Fury and Flow | Bored one afternoon, I challenged myself to write a poem about Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz. With Suno’s assistance, here is the musical version of that poem. Favorite Verse: Tracing the stitch on her pillow she imagines the blood in her veins she chases the witch up a willow till the beat of her heart starts to wane |
| The Glen | I wrote the poem this song is based on about a month or so ago. It takes a familiar place for Portsmouth, RI, residents (The Glen) and builds a song about the realities of relationships around that place. I trimmed the poem quite a bit for the song and changed some wording. In fact, the verse about chasing fireflies does not appear in the poem at all. That verse came to me as I was listening to the rhythm of the music, and it turned out to be my favorite lyric in the song. I chose a country-western style, which I think works nicely. Favorite Verse: The fireflies we used to chase went dark forever without a trace and we chose to leave love’s warm embrace |
| Get a Load of Elon | I wrote the poem “Get a Load of Elon” after seeing the sickening footage of that smiling dirtbag laughing it up and swinging a chainsaw around like some fake-ass efficiency hero. Fuck that guy and everything he represents. I think Suno captured the tone I was looking for on this one. Favorite Verse: He pulled into Washington Black MAGA cap on his head He spent a ton of cash put a felon in our bed |
| The Orange King | Donald Trump is my fat, ugly muse. There, I said it. Shame on everyone who voted for this criminal, and fuck all the cowards in Congress who are failing to stand up to this two-bit thug. And that’s all I have to say about this song. Favorite Lyric: My heart is full of pennies there’s no light inside my eyes there’s only room for Donny and all that I despise My mind is fully tainted I can’t connect the dots I’m more and more acquainted with Russian drones and bots |
| Pandora’s Vox Pandora’s Vox (Blues Version) | I wrote a poem in May of 2024 titled “Bonjour, Borg”, which was about the headlong way we are embracing AI, without fully understanding the consequences. I reworked that poem, added a chorus, and handed it to Suno. I include two versions (a power pop version and a blues version). Favorite Lyric: We’re messing with knowledge we don’t understand playing our cards without knowing our hand A sprint to the finish But where are we going? Dimmed and diminished We’ve no way of knowing |
| New Boy Paranormal | I wrote a poem in May of 2024 called “Boys in Distress”. I took bits and pieces from that poem and wrote the lyrics “New Boy Paranormal”. It’s about young adult men in America not being able to find their footing socially to the point where they retreat into a digital world of grievance, anger, and misogyny. This is an example of a previously written poem serving as a concept for new lyrics for a song. I wrote this specifically for Suno. The chorus: Fiber-optic geldings alone inside their heads they bathe in Incel chatrooms masturbate beside their beds they’re the new-boy paranormal walking ghosts and talking shit the no-screw-boy semi-formal stalking post sand keeping fit is new and does not appear in “Boys in Distress” – I came up with it on the fly and added it after listening to Suno’s first attempt at creating the song from my poem. This song went through several renditions before I settled on a “Surf rock-influenced” beat. I smiled broadly when I heard the finished product for the first time. Favorite Verse: Fiber-optic geldings alone inside their heads they bathe in Incel chatrooms masturbate beside their beds |
| The Danger’s in Pittsburgh | I wrote this poem about the climate crisis about 4 years ago. I kept the words pretty much the same for the musical version – just adding a second verse to the chorus. I can see Greta Thunberg belting this out on the bow of the Greenpeace Rainbow Warrior, with a hard-rocking band of Norwegian’s backing her. Greta, if you’re interested, text me. 😊 Favorite Verse: The dangers in Pittsburg the dangers in Norway wherever we live it’s outside our doorway The science is speaking the numbers aren’t lying The danger is global With temperatures rising |
| The Orange Morass | I came up with these lyrics based on a poem I wrote in 2017 called “Resist”, which was about pushing back against Donald Trump and his policies, which I saw as an existential threat to America’s democracy. I added several new verses for the song and reworked the verse that would become the chorus. I can see the Dixie Chicks or Dolly Parton belting this out. I’m not a big fan of country or rockabilly music, but I think that musical style works well with the words here. Favorite Verse: He belittles and threatens those who oppose him He stomps up and down screams America chose him! |
| Love Grenade | The phrase “love grenade” came into my head when I was noodling around a text file. I created this song entirely around that one phrase. No previous poem for this rocker – it just came to me very quickly, all of it from that one phrase “love grenade” – I like the vibe of the music that Suno generated – it’s got a female punk energy that’s fun to listen to (at least to me it is). Favorite Verse: You’re the drunken saint of unrestraint the banger at the ball a bourbon shot without a plot a fist inside the brawl |
| Oligarchic Kings | Suno and I, channeling our best Pat Benatar impression. I wrote the poem “Oligarchic Kings” recently and published it on my blog. I changed it quite a bit for the song version. Favorite Verse: Oligarchic Kings are here to clip your wings to wrap a rope around your throat to cast dark shadows over hope to crush your dreams of better days to dress your colors in shades of greys |
| Neo-Fascist-Oligarchic-Expialidocious | When I wrote this poem originally, I wrote it to the cadence of Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious from “Mary Poppins” and included it in my book “Imagine There’s No Donald” (available on Amazon😉 ). I asked Suno to create a power-pop song from the poem. It’s the only poem I used as is (not changing any of the words). It’s a campy/poppy version of a Disney classic. Favorite Verse: Neo-fascist-oligarchic-expialidocious Elon-Bezos-Zuckerberg are really quite atrocious We need to fight them in the streets and call them on their grossness Neo-fascist-oligarchic-expialidocious |
| Seeped in the 70s | When I was a youngster (I’m talking elementary school age), I remember “feeling” the news of the times – Watergate and Vietnam were in the news all the time. And though I was just a child and could not comprehend the realities swirling around me, I could sense a tension in the air – parents and other adults in heated conversations, the constant coverage of Watergate and Vietnam seeping into our subconscious among all the wonderful distractions of childhood at that time. That’s what inspired me to write the poem that this song’s about. Favorite Verse: Watergate was all around in our sight and in our sound on the news and in the paper the Viet Cong and foiled caper It lurked and hovered overhead Pages written and words were said it wormed its way into our head that innocence was finally dead |
| Too Small to See Too Small to See (Surf-Rock) version | I wrote a poem titled “Too Small to See” some 20 years ago after reading Robert Frost’s poem “Fire and Ice,” which is about “the destructive power of human emotions, suggesting the world could end through either fiery desire or icy hate, with both leading to the same annihilation, equating intense passion (fire) with destructive greed/lust and cold indifference (ice)” – I remember taking more literal slant on the subject of human mortality against the backdrop of an e-bola outbreak, which made me think that the way humanity ends is less likely to be from nuclear annihilation or climate-related disaster and more likely to be something “too small to see” – like a virus – When COVID came along it only reinforced my belief that our angel of death will be too small to see, killing us all, infectiously. I used to Suno to create two versions of this song with different styles (I’m not sure which one I like better). Favorite Verse: We’ll end with a whimper viral, tiny, and small from something we caught on our trip to the mall |
| Time Misspent in Wonderland | This song combines verses from two separate poems I wrote a few years back – one about regret and the other about a post-apocalyptic world. The result here is both bleak and sweet. Favorite Verse: Some people start to gather shake their fists and curse the sun while others mumble silently quoting Nietzsche and Carl Jung |
| Mangled by the Madness | This song is based on a poem I wrote, which was published in Beyond Words Literary Magazine a few years back. I did not change any words in the poem. I just added a chorus, and Suno did the rest. Favorite Verse: With a never-ending stipend of more than you can bear an abundant over-ripened softened fruit of deep despair |
The collision of technology, conservative ideology, and the incel movement in American culture is resulting in a volatile mix of online radicalization, misogyny, and political extremism.
By amplifying exclusionary beliefs, digital platforms normalize violence and connect isolated individuals into communities that can spill over into real-world harm.
Online platforms, social media, and dedicated incel sites provide a fertile breeding ground and powerful echo chamber for individuals with extremist and misogynistic views. It is in these intellectually dank digital hangouts that we encounter the danger of algorithmic amplification and the recommendation systems, which push members of these online communities deeper into radical content, normalizing hostility toward women and liberal values.
There is also a porn-component to this toxic, digital culture. Studies show links between incel misogyny and online pornography, which reinforces distorted views of women and sexuality.
What’s even more concerning is the acceptance of misogynistic beliefs and behaviors as “boys will be boys” by the Trump administration, which is tapping into the aggrieved community of non-college-educated males, not for the purpose of assisting them, but rather to turn their growing sense of isolation and anger towards college-educated women into votes.
There is an overlap between MAGA conservatism and ideology and the INCEL movement in America, specifically around the anti-feminist narrative, where both groups tend to frame feminism as a threat to traditional gender roles.
INECELS adopt a worldview of being “dispossessed men,” which resonates with broader conservative rhetoric about cultural decline and loss of male authority.
It’s at our own peril that we turn a blind eye to the alignment of incels and far-right groups around exclusionary, anti-democratic, and xenophobic tendencies. Isolated and digitally immersed young men in America are susceptible to being drawn to extremist online communities that distort masculinity and normalize misogyny.
The blending of conservative ideology with incel dogma and rhetoric widens the divide over gender, sexuality, and democracy, fueling broader culture wars in a country that is more culturally polarized than ever.
I wrote a poem a while back about the radicalization of young non-college-educated males through far-right groups around exclusionary, anti-democratic, and misogynistic views. I used the AI music platform Suno to put my poem to music.
Here is the resulting song, New Boy Paranormal.
Let me know what you think in the comments!
If you haven’t had a chance yet, please check out my book, My Paper, My Words: Rantings from a Progressive Boomer and Peeved Parent, from Amazon. And if you feel moved to write a review of the book, on Amazon, or anywhere else, I’d be honored.
My Paper, My Words is a collection of essays, stories, and poems that reflect the challenges of a middle-class husband and father trying to navigate a rapidly changing political, religious, and technological landscape of post-911 America.
What to do with a shoe box full of lyrics, looking for a place to live?
I’ve always wanted to set some of my work to music, but because I have no musical skills, nothing ever came of it.
I’ve been seeing a lot of AI-generated content on social media lately, so this morning I created an account on Suno.com, picked a genre, pasted a poem I wrote years ago (Baby Teeth and Bullets), and clicked Generate.
I wasn’t sure what to expect as I watched the progress wheel on the Suno website spin round and round.
In about 1 minute, Suno set my poem to music in accordance with a genre and other characteristics I selected.
I was amazed at how quickly Suno created the song and, even though I feel a little conflicted (guilty?) about using AI to create art, I was giddy at the result.
Checkout Baby Teeth and Bullets the song and let me know what you think about it and about the ethics of using AI to generate art.
Democratic socialism is a political and economic philosophy that advocates for a democratic political system alongside a socially owned or regulated economy. It emphasizes both political democracy and economic fairness, aiming to reduce inequality through collective decision-making and public control over key sectors.
Democratic socialism differs from traditional socialism primarily in its commitment to political democracy and its approach to economic reform. While both advocate for social ownership and reducing inequality, democratic socialism insists on maintaining democratic institutions and civil liberties.
| Feature | Democratic Socialism | Traditional Socialism |
|---|---|---|
| Political System | Emphasizes democracy, free elections, and civil liberties | May support centralized or authoritarian governance |
| Economic Ownership | Advocates social ownership of key industries, not all | Seeks complete public ownership of the means of production |
| Implementation Method | Uses gradual reforms through democratic processes | Often involves revolutionary change or centralized planning |
| Individual Freedoms | Strong focus on protecting rights and liberties | May subordinate individual rights to collective goals |
| Examples | Nordic countries (in practice), Bernie Sanders (in rhetoric) | Historical models like USSR, Maoist China |
In the U.S., the term “socialism” has often been used pejoratively, leading to misunderstandings. Democratic socialism is sometimes conflated with authoritarian socialism or communism, despite its emphasis on democracy and civil rights.
| System | Ownership Model | Political System | Economic Focus |
|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic Socialism | Public/social ownership of key sectors | Democratic (multi-party) | Equity, welfare, and public good |
| Social Democracy | Capitalist economy with strong welfare state | Democratic | Redistribution through taxation |
| Communism | Full state ownership of all property | Often authoritarian | Classless, stateless society |
| Capitalism | Private ownership of most industries | Democratic or authoritarian | Profit-driven, market-based |
Sources: Wikipedia, Britannica, Democratic Socialists of America
Nordic countries like Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and Finland are widely considered the most effective examples of democratic socialism. Success is typically measured through metrics like economic equality, universal access to services, democratic stability, and overall well-being.
These nations blend market economies with strong welfare states and democratic institutions:
These countries maintain multi-party democracies, free markets, and civil liberties, while ensuring universal access to healthcare, education, and housing.
Success isn’t judged solely by GDP—it’s about how well a society meets collective needs.
Key metrics include:
Language resonates, and misinformation denigrates.
Americans have a Pavlovian response to the word “socialism.” If Socialism is in the name, most Americans want nothing to do with it. When they hear it, they blanch and recoil reflexively, never taking the time to differentiate Socialism from democratic Socialism.
Many citizens view Socialism as anti-American, even if it has the word “democratic” attached to it.
For years, politicians in both parties have successfully leveraged America’s innate fear and disgust of Socialism to denigrate and lie about Democratic Socialism. For example, as Arty stated, it falsely equates it to traditional Socialism or even communism.
But voters in New York City are on the verge of shaking things up in American politics by electing a Democratic Socialist to lead the most strategic, culturally and financially influential city on Earth.
Zohran Mamdani is a young, charismatic, and savvy candidate, but for most Americans (even New Yorkers), youth, charisma, and political chops have never been enough to clear the hurdle of being a Socialist.
So, why is Mamdani on the verge of becoming New York City’s mayor?
What’s changed?
I’d argue that the most significant change driving America’s willingness to look at Democratic Socialism with a more critical and unbiased eye is the policies of Donald J Trump, which are turbo-charging the rise in economic inequality across the country.
Middle- and lower-income New Yorkers are feeling the impact of unfair economic policies and the very real consequences of those policies — and on this election day, New Yorkers are a microcosm of Americans across the country.
And I believe that in America today, the conceptual and philosophically based fear of Democratic Socialism is less than the very real fear of not being able to afford housing, groceries, healthcare, and education.
Americans are looking for a government that balances economic fairness and personal freedom. Most Americans don’t want to abolish capitalism entirely, but rather tame its excesses, which have exploded over the last several decades and worsened further under Donald Trump.
The gap between the wealthiest Americans and the rest of the population has widened, with income and wealth increasingly concentrated at the top. According to Arty, economic inequality has been trending upward for decades:
And by comparison, income inequality pales to the extreme wealth inequality in America, where the top 1% of households now hold more wealth than the bottom 90% combined.
But it’s what lurks behind the wealth and income numbers that truly matters and should keep average Americans up at night.
Rising inequality affects:
Democratic Socialism isn’t just a policy shift—it’s a philosophical challenge to the idea that markets should dominate society. By prioritizing human needs over profit, it exposes the limitations and inequalities of unfettered capitalism. That’s why it’s seen as a threat—not because it seeks chaos, but because it seeks a different kind of order.
We’re about to see just how fed-up New Yorkers are with our current system of government. Today’s mayoral election may be a harbinger of change and political revolution in America.
If you haven’t had a chance yet, please check out my book, My Paper, My Words: Rantings from a Progressive Boomer and Peeved Parent, from Amazon. And if you feel moved to write a review of the book, on Amazon, or anywhere else, I’d be honored.
My Paper, My Words is a collection of essays, stories, and poems that reflect the challenges of a middle-class husband and father trying to navigate a rapidly changing political, religious, and technological landscape of post-911 America.
Remember when
we walked the Glen
down to the Manor
and back again
just passersby
to grass and sky
with inlet smiles
and sunlit eyes
Cicada rhythms
danced through the trees
the Sakonnet rolled
out to the sea
that world embraced
both you and me
Remember when
we walked no more
stopped skipping stones
along the shore
we buried secrets
in closet walls
dodged each other
in narrow halls
Glen strolls replaced
by trips to malls
by all-day meetings
and late-night calls
We lost ourselves
and raised the kids
crossed some lines
and hit the skids
then peeled apart
as our parents did
Mundanity paved over love
harsh words gave way
to push and shove
our home became
a handless glove
Does love lie dormant
at the Glen
under rotting leaves
and muddied Zen
or is Wolfe’s
“You can’t go home again”
as true as dirt and oxygen
where the fireflies
we choose to chase
are snuffed
by Moirai’s cold embrace?
If you haven’t had a chance yet, please check out my book, My Paper, My Words: Rantings from a Progressive Boomer and Peeved Parent, from Amazon. And if you feel moved to write a review of the book, on Amazon, or anywhere else, I’d be honored.
My Paper, My Words is a collection of essays, stories, and poems that reflect the challenges of a middle-class husband and father trying to navigate a rapidly changing political, religious, and technological landscape of post-911 America.
No, Donald Trump’s statement that Ronald Reagan loved tariffs for our country and its national security does not accurately reflect President Reagan’s views on tariffs.
Reagan was a strong advocate for free trade and often spoke against tariffs, viewing them as harmful to economic prosperity.
In fact, in a 1987 national radio address, Reagan explicitly criticized tariffs, stating they “hurt every American” and arguing that protectionist policies like tariffs lead to “shrinking markets, collapsing businesses, and widespread job losses”. He believed that while tariffs might seem patriotic or protective in the short term, they ultimately stifle innovation, provoke retaliatory trade measures, and damage the broader economy.
No, Donald Trump was not telling the truth.
A recent controversy arose when the Ontario government aired an ad using clips from Reagan’s 1987 speech to highlight his anti-tariff stance. Donald Trump responded by calling the ad “fake” and claimed it misrepresented Reagan’s views. However, fact-checks and the full context of Reagan’s speech confirm that he genuinely opposed tariffs and championed open markets.
While Reagan did occasionally use targeted trade measures for strategic purposes, his overall philosophy was rooted in free and fair trade, not broad protectionism or nationalistic tariff policies.
So, while Trump may frame tariffs as essential for national security, invoking Reagan as a supporter of such policies misrepresents the former president’s well-documented economic views.
Anyone with a cell phone or computer can do a quick Google search and know definitively that Trump was lying about the Ontario government’s Ad being fake and lying about Ronald Reagan “loving tariffs.”
It took me less than 5 minutes to debunk President Trump’s statements.
The more prescient issue is how fluidly this administration weaponizes lying.
Most politicians (and non-politicians for that matter) lie to get out of a jam. The Trump administration’s repetitive lying is part of a strategy to manipulate public opinion.
This administration is taking a page from the 1930s Nazi party playbook, where writings and speeches consistently emphasized emotional appeal, repetition, and the subordination of truth to political strategy.
According to Arty, Joseph Goebbels, the Nazi Minister of Propaganda, believed:
The Trump administration has been widely criticized for employing repeated falsehoods as a political strategy, often aligning with the idea that repetition can foster belief.
Here are several notable examples of falsehoods repeated by Donald Trump and his administration:
A 2023 study published in Public Opinion Quarterly found that repeated falsehoods from Trump’s presidency significantly influenced public misperceptions, especially among partisan audiences. The more often Trump or officials from his administration repeated lies, the more likely people were to believe them, even after the falsehoods had been publicly debunked.
bendingtheneedle