Most of our assumptions have outlived their uselessness.

~Marshall McLuhan

As many of you know, my day job involves helping individuals and organizations approach life and business from a more creative perspective.  At the core of our methodology is the need to suspend judgment, those assumptions and biases which represent barriers to previously unexplored avenues of inquiry and analysis.

I could not help but think about what assumptions lay behind the Tweeter-in Chief devoting his first day back in Washington to a flood of provocative, questionably factual and in some cases inane 240-character pronouncements.  Surely, he cannot believe any of his “enemies and haters” will be swayed by the same narcissistic pontifications which are at the core of their belief he is unfit for office.

The argument, of course, is Twitter is the perfect method of communication in an era when Americans have increasingly short attention spans.   But what if that assumption is wrong.  What if the majority of voters are insulted because candidates think their constituents are swayed by platitudes rather than facts and cogent arguments.  What if the majority of voters put the same faith in Twitter feeds that they do in advertisements which promise they will become part of an awesome social experience if only they drink the right beer or brush their teeth with the right toothpaste.

Please note, I refer to the “majority of voters.”  Why?  Because I know there are living, breathing Americans who actually believe it is cool to say, “Dilly! Dilly!” much less “Make American Great Again.”  Why waste valuable time trying to convince them otherwise.  What I do know is a majority of Americans are dissatisfied with the direction  in which the country is going.  They do not agree with the economic, environmental, international and social policies of the current administration and the GOP Congress.  These voters are open to alternatives, but refuse to blindly accept a different national agenda without knowing why it represents an improvement over what is being offered by Trump and his minions.

This is why I personally choose to blog rather than tweet.  And what keeps me going, in particular, are comments from readers who refer to the research behind a post.  Consider the following example.  Following the mass shooting in Las Vegas, I published a post titled, “Just the Facts, Ma’am.”  It’s purpose was to demonstrate how failure to renew the ban on assault weapons in 2004 had statistically led to more mass shootings and resulting deaths than might otherwise have occurred.  To my surprise, a loyal reader who I knew was opposed to new gun control measures including the assault weapons ban, sent me the following email.

This was a well-done post, I appreciated all the metrics!

This is not to say Twitter and Facebook do not have their place.  Not as the vehicle for addressing complex issues.  But as “pointers” to places where interested voters can access fuller, more documented arguments in support of a policy or position.  Ranting about Congress failing to reauthorize the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) has done no good.  Instead, consider building a tsunami of public support for action on CHIP by linking voters to the research conducted by the Georgetown University Health Policy Institute.  In other words, Twitter and e-mails may raise awareness, but awareness is not enough.  What is needed in any movement are knowledgeable advocates and evangelists.  And that requires they be armed with more than 240-character slogans.

So, candidates in the 2018 mid-terms and those contemplating a run for the White House in 2020, put down your smartphones.  Don’t tweet; take the time to blog.  Don’t just tell us what we should be for; tell us WHY!

For what it’s worth.
Dr. ESP

The late Ben Bradlee has recently become a posthumous rock star.  He is the subject of a new HBO documentary.  And he is portrayed by Tom Hanks in The Post, a movie about the decision to print the Pentagon Papers which exposed the lies being told to the American people about the Vietnam War effort.  Dear readers, you may remember I too looked to Bradlee for guidance on inauguration day 2017.  At the time, I was concerned the press was playing into Donald Trump’s tiny hands every time they erred in reporting the news.  Nothing bolsters Trump’s constant cries of “fake news” like occasional inaccurate reporting.

In what should have been the culmination of the best week for the resistance, the mainstream media has done something unimaginable. Three times in five days, they have buttressed the liar-in-chief’s charge the press will do anything, including make up stories, to take him down.

• ABC correspondent Brian Ross inaccurately reported Trump had directed Michael Flynn to make contact with the Russians about lifting Obama imposed sanctions during the transition.
• CNN inaccurately reported an email to Donald Junior with the location and password for accessing Wikileaks’ stolen DNC and John Podesta emails was sent on September 4, the same date Junior tweeted this information to his followers.  To their credit, the Washington Post pointed out the email was actually dated 10 days later.  But the later date undermined the time line CNN and others were using to build a case for collusion between the Trump campaign and Russian operatives.
• Until today, no media outlet independently checked the veracity of the high school yearbook inscription from Republican senate candidate Roy Moore to Beverly Young Nelson. Although Nelson says she only added the date and location to Moore’s message, not divulging this information at the outset damages her credibility.  In a close race, any misstep can turn the tide.

In the first two cases, ABC and CNN preceded their scoops with the word “exclusive.”  In an effort to post a story before the competition, the only exclusive thing about their reporting is how exclusively irresponsible they are.

But here’s the good news.  The only people who really matter in this national horror story are Robert Mueller and his team.  So  I again remind all of you who keep asking how long are they going to take, the answer has and always will be, “As long as necessary to get it right.”  Despite claims by Paul Manafort’s attorneys Mueller has misinterpreted the facts in their client’s indictment, no one, and I repeat NO ONE, has argued any of the facts are wrong.

The term “all deliberate speed” was first introduced in the Supreme Court decision Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas which ended the “separate but equal” doctrine contained in the previous Plessy v. Ferguson decision.  Sadly, segregationists used the word “deliberate” to claim they were taking their time to make sure it was done correctly.  However, in this case, all deliberate speed is EXACTLY what we need.

As Ben Bradlee reminded Carl Bernstein and  Bob Woodward in All the President’s Men:

We’re under a lot of pressure, you know, and you put us there. Nothing’s riding on this except the, uh, first amendment to the Constitution, freedom of the press, and maybe the future of the country. 

Where is the next Ben Bradlee when he/she is so badly needed?

For what it’s worth.
Dr. ESP

Deprogramming101 Productions
presents

A Dr. ESP Film

Alternate title:  GOD! NO! FATHER
Let’s make them an offer they can’t refuse!

Starring:
Donald Corleone
Donald Corleone, Jr.
Eric Corleone
Jared Rizzi*

*Ivanka Corleone’s husband who gets whacked for selling out the family. Nothing like life imitating art.  Except, in this case, it’s not business, it’s personal.

Coming to a theater near you before the mid-term 2018 elections or sooner if screenwriter Robert Mueller turns in the final scene before then.

For what it’s worth.
Dr. ESP

This is the third week in a row my wife and I hoped to support the local movie theater.  However, not one of the action, superhero, CGI films made the three quarter of a mile trip worth the effort.  Therefore, I suggest theater owners start bringing back some old favorites.  Here are just two suggestions.

And…

For what it’s worth.
Dr. ESP