The fiction of despair

No, this is not about Kafka … except in that some days a lot of Americans are feeling like a giant cockroach when they wake up in the morning. But let’s not get off track right from the start. It’s about another kind of fiction born from despair … or at least desperation. 

Let’s start again. I’ve been peeved lately at some of my friends on Facebook for posting “news items” which are obviously thunderingly false. No kidding, right? False stories on the internet? Breaking news: water is wet. 

Let me back up yet again. Confession time: politically (and culturally) I’m a leftie. I mean, way left. I’m a dyed-in-the-wool bleeding heart snowflake woke antifa democratic socialist. If you’re Maga, you may want to leave the room. (Or maybe not. Y’see, I’ve had a semi-epiphany about the Maga movement which might interest you. I’ll get to that later.) So as I’ve said, I’ve been, well, disappointed lately, at my leftie friends (which are about 99% of my friends).

 It started with the news that Stephen Colbert and Rachel Maddow and Jimmy Kimmel were teaming up for a talk/news show, or an entire channel, one that would be a mighty bulwark against the shadow of Trump reaching forth its hand from Mordor. 

“After years of frustration with network pressures and watered-down stories, the trio is reshaping how news is delivered. Maddow’s sharp analysis, Colbert’s fearless satire, and Kimmel’s late-night humor create a dynamic fusion aimed at shaking the media world to its core.” 

Or maybe it was Jon Stewart and AOC teaming up, or Paul McCartney and Dan Rather and Bonnie Raitt. The lineup was fluid as Marvel’s Avengers, but they were all left-wing heroes, coming to the rescue. It was all over Facebook. All untrue. All AI-generated slop. Colbert is not teaming up with Rachel and Jimmy. Taylor Swift and Pope Leo are not on board. Stephen King is staying home. Oprah has no comment. 

That trend has finally died down, only to be replaced by a new narrative: St. George and the dragon. In our story, a hero of the left (Colbert again, or Tiger Woods, or Dolly Parton or Prince William, et al.) would battle, sometimes face-to-face, but always on tv or at a public event (often studded with billionaire oligarchs), a villain from the right (Karoline Leavitt, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, even Trump himself). The hero never engages in histrionics, but calmly and quietly proceeds to carve the villain a new anus. 

The crowd always listens in a hush, mesmerized or ashamed. And then afterwards, the internet always erupts at the news. The hero often promises either to raise, or contribute, or sue the villain for vast sums of money to right some egregious wrong. 

Here’s a snippet of a sample, a supposed interview between Rachel Maddow and Pam Bondi, on the subject of Virginia Giuffre’s memoir on Jeffrey Epstein: 

“If the truth scares you that much… then you are exactly the reason I have to stand up. I will raise fifty million dollars to open every file and fight for justice for Virginia.” “The moment those words left her mouth, the entire NBC studio fell silent. Rachel Maddow — known for her cold clarity and refusal to let emotion lead — appeared in a version of herself the audience had never witnessed. After finishing Virginia Giuffre’s explosive memoir, she looked straight into the camera, eyes blazing, and delivered a direct strike that sent the internet into chaos.” 

“Within seconds, the online world erupted. Powerful figures tied to the scandal slipped into a suspicious silence, as if they knew the storm had only just begun. For the first time, Maddow wasn’t just reporting — she was confronting the darkness. In a tense 14-minute segment, Maddow described the memoir as “the indictment America chose to ignore.” 

In another, every single Daily Show host lines up against the hapless Bondi: 

“Last night, The Daily Show was no longer a comedy show. It turned into a live courtroom on television. Jon Stewart slammed a thick stack of files onto the desk, the 8 most powerful hosts of the show stood behind him, and the entire studio fell into silence. And they all said, in unison, the sentence that blew up social media: “If you yourself have never opened that book… then don’t fool yourself into thinking you have the courage to speak about the truth.” 

In yet another, the improbable duo of Bob Dylan and Mick Jagger tag-team against Bondi: 

“SHOCKING NEWS: Two legends, Bob Dylan & Mick Jagger, have stunned the nation by publicly criticizing Pam Bondi — and then shocking everyone again with their announcement of a one-night-only comeback concert to raise funds. America was left frozen when Bob Dylan spoke with quiet intensity: “Turning your back on a woman seeking the truth isn’t silence — it’s indifference.” Moments later, Mick Jagger appeared unexpectedly and continued: “No one can call that neutrality. It’s a lack of compassion.” The entire room went silent before erupting into thunderous applause. Then came the second shockwave: Bob Dylan: “I will return to the stage. Just one night.” Mick Jagger: “And I’ll join him.” Both: “We will raise 50 million dollars to defend truth and protect the vulnerable.” 

You get the picture. Here’s an odd one: Neil Diamond sues Pete Hegseth: 

“Neil Diamond Files $60 Million Lawsuit Against Pete Hegseth and Network Following Explosive On-Air Showdown. What began as a routine interview about songwriting, legacy, and resilience quickly erupted into chaos when Pete Hegseth turned the discussion hostile, publicly criticizing Neil Diamond’s continued performances and accusing him of being a “retired singer trying to stay relevant by milking his past hits.” 

(What tv show would ever feature Neil Diamond and Pete Hegseth conversing?)

 “Diamond, however, remained calm and composed, his trademark poise shining through. He spoke gently but firmly, defending his decades-long career, his commitment to his fans, and the deeper meaning behind his music — songs that have comforted and united generations. His words, steady and full of quiet conviction, left the studio in stunned silence, cutting through the tension like a lyric from Sweet Caroline sung straight from the heart. Now, the situation has escalated dramatically. Neil Diamond has filed a $60 million lawsuit against Hegseth and the network, citing defamation and emotional distress over what many viewers have described as “one of the most unprofessional live broadcast outbursts in recent memory.”

 

In another, Jagger (Or, in some versions, Phil Collins or Mickey Dolenz) goes head to head with Trump over immigration: 

“You’re tearin’ families apart like a damn coward in a red tie, son.” The studio froze for 17 seconds of pure, stunned silence. The network had billed it as “A Conversation on the Border with President Trump and special guest Mick Jagger.” They expected a few sharp suits, maybe a witty quip, perhaps a little “Satisfaction” charm. They got the wrath of the Rolling Stones’ frontman instead.” 

This is just a taste. When I see them, I normally let the poster know they’ve been fooled by AI. Sometimes they thank me. Sometimes they ignore me. Sometimes they lash out at me, daring me to prove it to them. Their skepticism is a bit late. 

Why then do I bother? And why am I bothering to bring this to your attention, faithful reader? Because I keep asking myself why these obvious manufactures keep getting shared by intelligent people. People who don’t ordinarily take wooden nickels. 

For years, I held it as truth that only the right wing indulged in fantasies like these, that the left prized facts. That they could smell a fake, at least well enough to perform a quick fact check. Naive of me, you’ll say. Maybe. But this epidemic of untruths is recent. Why have my leftie friends turned to these myths just lately? Why now? 

Here’s the answer I came up with: desperation. I don’t need to tell you that there are a lot of alarming events occurring in our country and our world today—which the left blames squarely on Donald Trump and his minions (your own mileage may vary). And they don’t know what to do about them. They’ve voted, they’ve petitioned their Congresspeople, they’ve taken to the streets protesting. It doesn’t seem to move the needle at all, or at least not enough. They think our democracy, and everything they’ve worked for, is unraveling. They’re desperate, though not desperate enough to engage in violence, not yet. Their government, all three branches, seems to have been co-opted by oligarchs. Where can they turn? They need a hero. Strike that: they need heroes. 

So when they happen upon these tales of right beating might, they seize on them. A measure of hope is restored. So much so that they refuse the question the legitimacy of the tales. They let down the guardrails of skepticism. They turn a blind eye, let themselves be suckered. Just as the right has done for years. Which leads to the inevitable question: why does the right accept these fantasies? And the inevitable answer: desperation. The right just got desperate first. 

It’s perhaps a different kind of desperation. A desperation best exemplified by the Appalachia of both JD Vance’s Hillbilly Elegy and Barbara Kingsolver’s Demon Copperhead. The reality described in both both the memoir and the novel is the same, though the reasons ascribed are vastly different. They portray an America mired in economic depression, social disintegration, and drug dependency. Appalachia writ large, due to NAFTA and globalization. 

The right needed heroes. In their desperation they chose men like reality star Donald Trump, broadcaster Tucker Carlson, and political organizer Charlie Kirk. In case you don’t believe the right is just as susceptible when it comes to these fevered fantasies, here’s one for you: 

AOC BULLIES A TRUMP ON SENATE FLOOR – THEN KENNEDY STEPS IN AND MAKES HER FACE TURN GHOST-WHITE IN 35 SECONDS FLAT …...which goes on to depict AOC bullying young Prince Barron on the senate floor, until folksy Louisiana senator Kennedy steps in and de-fangs her, telling home truths, sending her crying from the chamber. It ends with: 

Try picking on someone who can fight back next time.” Thirty-five seconds of pure, marble-cracking silence. AOC’s face turned ghost-white—mouth open, no sound. Her manifesto slipped to the floor. Schumer’s gavel froze mid-air. Barron just nodded—quiet respect. Kennedy closed the red folder. It hit the desk like a tombstone. “The adults are talking now, darlin’. Class dismissed.” 

The right has long had a term for this: “owning the libs.” Now the left dreams of owning the ‘pubs. The fictions of the extreme right, Q-Anon, were darker. Pizzagate was the old blood libel, reformulated to envision an enemy of unspeakable evil, the ancient scapegoat reimagined as the first female major party candidate for president, Hilary Clinton. 

Raised up against her were an unlikely duo of heroes, the television hero Trump, and the once and future king, John-John Kennedy, who somehow had not died, but was merely waiting in the wings. It ‘s in the wild concoction of this fantasy that we can measure the desperation of its adherents. 

These aren’t just comforting fantasies, they’re runaway dangerous. Which means the right and the left are both desperate in varying degrees. A nation full of desperate people is not a good look. It’s apt to crumble because it’s got no foundation in reality. 

So stay sharp. Question everything you read or see. Be aware of your own tendencies toward confirmation bias. Don’t be taken in by comforting fantasies. The real world needs you.