Cracking The Control Cocoon

Increased transparency appears to be emerging as of the early dividends of the GOP electoral sweep. The exposing of the FEMA administrator who directed aid workers to skip houses with Trump lawn signs, and her subsequent (and prompt) firing, was as refreshing as it was necessary. We all know that bureaucracies tend to fill up their middle management layers with petty martinets, fief-builders, and hall monitors - the sorts of people who relish the wee bits of power they wield and elevate that power over their roles as public servants. The culture of deceit and contempt for the "deplorables" that has been part-and-parcel of the outgoing administration is in a lot of trouble, if the early signs are to be believed.

A friend asked if FEMA administrator Deanne Criswell's firing "was it" as far as the scandal went, lamentably suggesting that she might be the sacrificial lamb that would allow others to go scot-free. I suggested patience.

That patience is being rewarded.

The NYPost recently shared a report that the curtain is being pulled back on the pervasiveness of bias at FEMA, and I think this is story is big enough for the incoming administration to take an axe to that bigoted culture. Trump has named South Dakota governor Kristi Noem to head up the Department of Homeland Security, to which FEMA belongs, and I figure attacking this mess would be a great first task.

The "manage them and lie to them" culture that has become the norm in government under Biden's watch, a culture that culminated with the hugely consequential coverup of Biden's mental decline, is at the heart of the Democrats' wipeout. Most people don't devote as much time and energy to reading and watching politics as you and I, but they're not stupid either, and being persistently deceived and demeaned by self-styled "better than you" aristocrats got many to "enough is enough."

Consider the dire warnings that some have issued about people seeking "alternative" news sources such as podcasts, blogs, and outlets not part of the mainstream press (Reason.com is one of my faves).

Consider how those warnings start with accusations - nay, assumptions - that those alternatives sources are misinformation and disinformation, that they are presumptively misleading or false.

Consider what those warnings actually reveal: the fear of not being able to curate and control the flow of information to the voters.

How much misleading and false information has been put forth by those legacy news sources? Virtually the entire arc of Trump's political career since he threw his hat into the ring in 2016 has been one of the "trustworthy" news sources peddling and repeating lies and misrepresentations. Why should we believe them when they tell us that their competitors are not to be trusted?

Yes, absolutely, there is a lot of garbage out there in "alternative" land. There's also been a lot of garbage in mainstream land, and we know this not because they came clean, but because alternative land told us so.

Joe Rogan engages with a wide spectrum of guests. Some of them peddle questionable or outright nonsensical notions, but even they get the chance to say their bits. Compare that to how the talking heads on the networks trample over anyone who dares voice heterodoxy on their shows, and tell me who is doing the public a greater service.

Once again, the real division in politics is between those who want to control and those who want to be controlled. That control is not only over our actions, but over information itself. Those who would control portray themselves as "better" people than the rest of us, but time and again we see that they are not better, that they are actually worse, and that they will betray us in favor of their selfish interests whenever they can.

The Trump "system shock" is part of an on-going cracking of the control cocoon. I hope it continues.