Retuning the American ear for BS

Having a citizenry that can discern fact from fiction, expert exposition from incoherent babbling, is essential to a civil and smart society.

Regarding Dr. Oz saying the country is “underbabied” and RFK Jr. expressing concern about sperm counts and fertility, causing a decline in theU.S. birth rate and presenting an “existential crisis” for the nation . . .

They would never say so, even while Trump naps, but it just might be that young men and women are less inclined to bring children into a world facing an existential threat from climate change, or a democracy facing an existential threat from a demented authoritarian.

Or maybe young people believe it will be too expensive to have kids in a country where billionaires rule and wage earners struggle, where the average age of a first-time home buyer now approaches 40 years.

Maybe they’ve lost faith in the American dream.

Maybe Oz and RFK Jr. should suggest that Trump’s horrible purge of immigrants — repeatedly referring to them as a criminal class — has slowed the nation’s population growth. Maybe fewer immigrants want to live in a country they perceive, with good reason, to be racist and cruel.

No one in Trump’s circle would ever say these things, of course. Some of them might have these thoughts as they sit through Dear-Leader cabinet meetings or stand speechless while he nods off in his big chair in the Oval. But Trump put them in power, so they’re not about to change tune.

I make a distinction for RFK Jr. He is in a class of his own, committed to his crackpot beliefs, and given his position, a genuine danger to public health.

The White House economics chair, Hassett, has distinguished himself with crackpot lies on a level approaching Trump’s. His latest: Sunday on FOX he claimed that “almost all” of the 16 million jobs created during the Biden administration went to “illegal aliens.”

And there are others — Hegseth and Blanche come to mind — who appear to be true-believers and not just opportunists.

But Dr. Oz, Marco Rubio, Scott Bessent, and most of the silent Republicans in the House and Senate, even JD Vance — you know they know better. There’s not a true-believer among them. They know they’ve attached themselves to a vulgar, racist ignoramus who assembled one of the worst cabinets and most cynical staffs in presidential history. Whatever integrity they once had is gone, and the taint of association with Trump will last forever.

One more thought upon listening to Oz and RFK Jr. during Monday’s Oval Office session . . .

Once upon a time, we considered such people crackpots or know-nothings and showed them the door.

Back when security was less of a concern, all kinds of eccentric people would show up in newspaper newsrooms to plead their cases. Some were mentally ill, others were just obsessed with some aspect of modern life and wanted to be heard.

Years ago, in the city room of The Patriot Ledger in Quincy, Mass., I was told to sit and listen to a man who believed the government had used satellites to conduct mind-control experiments on him and other citizens. He had lined the inside of his fedora with aluminum foil, and he had foil-covered folders full of documents he implored me to read. I politely listened and took some of his papers, then showed him the door. He seemed satisfied with the attention.

In the newsroom of The Baltimore Sun, we daily received calls from a woman we called The Thank-You Lady. Each morning, she would call the city desk and plead her case to the reporter or editor who answered the phone. She might have seen an alien spacecraft the night before; she might have offered an incoherent defense of some politician or athlete in the news. She rambled for three to five minutes, said “Thank you” and hung up. The reporter or editor who took the call would quickly return to the work at hand.

I had a radio talk show on WBAL-AM in the early 1990s, and certain people would call from time to time to make outlandish claims about all sorts of things — fluoridation, sinister government operations, the lack of evidence that astronauts had actually landed on the moon. I would listen, somewhat impatiently, thank them and quickly move on.

Anyone who had a high school education, who was rational and informed — meaning, they read a daily newspaper or at least listened or watched broadcast news — could hear the irrationality and spuriousness of those callers. Having a citizenry with an ear for that — the ability to discern fact from fiction, expert exposition from incoherent babbling — is essential to a civil and progressive society.

Maybe, as time goes on, as Trump and his stooges continue to express their crackpot or know-nothing views, more Americans will smell the BS and wake up. We must have hope.