10/12/2024
Please Stop Spreading Conspiracy Theories & Lies About The Hurricane Helene Response
I'm out of the US, in Edinburgh, Scotland right now, so I missed being in my own country during Hurricane Helene. I'm so terribly sorry to my fellow Americans who suffered so much loss of life, property, safety, electricity, food, supplies, etc. I know that when chaos ensues and life feels scary, it's easy to be vulnerable to misinformation, in the same way so many people spread propaganda and conspiracy theories during the pandemic and after 9/11. I get that we want to explain the unexplainable so much that we'll grab onto any attempt to makes sense of the nonsensical. I have a lot of empathy for those who are vulnerable to believing conspiracy theories.
Still, I beg you not to give into the temptation to spread lies about Hurricane Helene intentionally crafted by a convicted felon who has no business running for President.
I've been away from WiFi, but now that I'm at a Starbucks, my inbox is full of friends and clients spreading lies, conspiracy theories, and disinformation about how the Biden/ Harris team are intentionally withholding and blocking rescue efforts and money from Hurricane Helene victims in need.
No, FEMA is not out of money because all the money went to illegal immigrants and Ukraine.
No, rescue teams are not being turned away from victims in need by police under order to thwart rescue efforts by Biden.
No, emergency funds are not being withheld on purpose because some of the people in need are Republicans.
Please, people, use some critical thinking. Check your sources. Fact check before you pass along lies. Please be careful what you pass on. These right wing talking points and intentional lies are all part of a well worn authoritarian strategy to undermine trust in a rival Trump and his power hungry cronies know he can't beat by telling the truth.
Heather Cox Richardson's newsletter today said, "Trump’s lies are not errors. They are part of a well-documented strategy to overturn democracy by using modern media to create a false political world. Voters begin to base their political decisions on that fake image, rather than on reality, and are manipulated into giving up control of their government to an authoritarian."
She also said, "In his autobiography Mein Kampf, or 'My Struggle,' Adolf Hi**er wrote that people were more likely to believe a giant lie than a little one because they were willing to tell small lies in their own lives but 'would be ashamed to resort to large-scale falsehoods.' Since they could not conceive of telling 'colossal untruths…they would not believe that others could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously.' He went on: 'Even though the facts which prove this to be so may be brought clearly to their minds, they will still doubt and waver and will continue to think that there may be some other explanation.'
The U.S. Office of Strategic Services had picked up on Hi**er’s manipulation of his followers when it described Hi**er’s psychological profile. It said, 'His primary rules were: never allow the public to cool off; never admit a fault or wrong; never concede that there may be some good in your enemy; never leave room for alternatives; never accept blame; concentrate on one enemy at a time and blame him for everything that goes wrong; people will believe a big lie sooner than a little one; and if you repeat it frequently enough people will sooner or later believe it.'"
Please, for the sake of democracy, stop spreading lies. When you spread lies, you become complicit in the lie. You become an accomplice.
I got so tired of debunking disinformation during the pandemic, mostly spread by lying doctors like Christiane Northrup and Zach Bush, that I just feel weary of trying to set the record straight.
Weirdly, I'm about to be the plus one of my partner, who is speaking at a "spiritual" conference where Zach Bush will be one of the other keynoters. I think I might just hide in my cabin so I don't have to smile and pretend I don't know how much damage this sweet-talking preacher doctor caused by spreading all the Covid disinformation and anti-vax propaganda that contributed to millions of unnecessary, preventable Covid deaths.
Sometimes I think about quitting this job, becoming a farmer or kindergarten teacher or something that would take me out of public "influencer" life and help me feel less responsible for setting the record straight when lies are being spread on the internet.
But since this is still my work, I will keep doing my best to debunk lies.
My heart goes out to all the victims of Hurricane Helene. May you find some peace in the chaos. May you cling to those you love and ride the waves of uncertainty and tragedy by coming together, rather than dividing our country with lies that benefit nobody but Donald Trump and the other criminals who think he has the answers he absolutely does not have.
God bless America- from Europe,
Lissa
