Barbara McQuade and Andy Luger talk about the disinformation epidemic at the MinnPost Festival Sept. 27 in Minneapolis
Even though she was sitting on a stage in front of hundreds of people, Barbara McQuade seemed much more relaxed than when she appears on “The Last Word” with Lawrence O’Donnell on MSNBC. She was conversing with Andy Luger about the current “attack from within – how disinformation is sabotaging America.”
That is the title of her 2024 book, a copy of which now sits on the table next to my laptop. The book’s back matter describes McQuade as a law professor at the University of Michigan, legal analyst for MSNBC, and former U.S. attorney. Alongside her book sits beside another that I just checked out at the library, Democracy in America, written in 1835 by the French aristocrat, Alexis de Tocqueville. In 1831 he spent nearly a year traveling throughout America taking extensive notes on his observations and reflections.
If there is a connection, it’s in the contrasting perspectives of democracy. De Tocqueville’s book states that in America “the people is therefore the real directing power…In the United States the majority governs in the name of the people.” McQuade’s book (which I have yet to fully read) describes how, nearly two centuries since de Tocqueville, democracy is under serious threat due to lies and disinformation.
MinnPost Festival
The conversation with McQuade, Luger, and the audience occurred at the MinnPost Festival Sept. 27 at Westminster Presbyterian Church in downtown Minneapolis. Luger was a U.S. District Attorney in Minnesota until he resigned last January. He and McQuade are good friends. MinnPost is a high quality, online, not-for-profit news outlet offering “independent journalism, supported by readers.” I am grateful to contribute stories as a freelance reporter.
I was surprised to see such a large attendance at the festival on a warm, sunny Saturday afternoon. Also, encouraged. While the MinnPost reader demographic leans toward older people with college degrees, there were a significant number of younger people in the audience. In coming years, they must deal with and neutralize the forces behind our current ‘disinformation age’.
Sober, attentive faces paid attention as McQuade described how the so-called ‘information warfare’ is getting worse. Pervasive digital technology along with anonymity have fueled our polarized politics. More so on the political right, they demonize opposition, mobilize their base, and discourage people from voting.
Sowing discord
The sowing of discord has been “fabulously successful,” McQuade says, by domestic groups and also foreign: Russia, China, North Korea, and Iran. Also, anarchists and nihilists. Luger noted online nihilist networks such as “Watch People Die,” which has about two million subscribers. I didn’t do an online check because I don’t want to soil my laptop and have that on my algorithm.
Technocrats seek to increase their wealth and see how much they can get away with in terms of controlling information and disrupting our traditional communications institutions. That’s one reason I refuse to access “X.” Bluesky, LinkdIn, Facebook, and Substack are enough. And the name “Truth Social” is an abomination. When you repeat a lie often enough….
“What can we do?” asked an audience member. McQuade believes regulation and education are necessary. We must build resilience among people and engage them to recognize credible sources of information, McQuade said. “We need to make the internet safe.”
She gave the example of Finland, which must deal with disinformation from Russia and its 835-mile border. Its “strategy for teaching about fake news is a comprehensive, nationwide media literacy program integrated across all subjects, from preschool through secondary school.” (AI overview).
Become engaged
People must do more to become engaged and build relationships in person and offline, McQuade says. The education system has been dominated by STEM – science, technology, engineering, math – at the expense of civics, history, and government. The examples should start at the top, in Congress. That may be in her next book, The Fix, how to dismantle criminal organizations in government, and build safeguards against abuses.
McQuade’s book is heavily indexed and footnoted. With such research and being in print, you can believe that the facts are true, and the information is credible. My habit in giving such non-fiction books a first look, after scanning the table of contents or chapter list, is to look at the last page.
Page 299 of Attack From Within – How Disinformation Is Sabotaging America, states: “Respecting each other means telling each other the truth. While we can never rid politics of spin and advocacy, we can insist on facts and refuse to perpetuate assertions we know to be lies simply to make a buck or somehow get ahead. Allowing public leaders, media, businesses, and institutions to propagate falsehoods assaults the integrity of our democracy…. We must fight disinformation as unpatriotic, a betrayal of the American people.”
Anarchy and nihilism prevalent in the world of digital communications are prolonging the Postmodern Era. There is great conflict between that and the innate desire of most people for a resurgence of truth, hope, faith – the Metamodern Era.
