• by Joe Mandese , December 20, 2024

Sorry for laying low for so long, but honestly, I needed to collect myself.

More importantly, I needed to reflect on what really went down -- make that, what's going down -- because honestly, it definitely is  flooding the zone.

And while I can't say with 100% certainty where it's coming from, there are some obvious suspects, both foreign and domestic.

Let me begin with the graphic I mashed up above.

No, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists has not moved the Doomsday Clock forward to nine seconds to midnight, though I think it very well could when it makes its 2025 unveiling next month.

The current version of the metaphorical clock still stands at 90 seconds to midnight, the closest it's ever been since the dawning of the atomic age.

Over the years, the Bulletin has added several threats to humanity alongside nuclear annihilation, including climate change -- and in 2020 -- disinformation.

Based on what's going down now, I feel like that is actually the No. 1 threat, because it can exacerbate and/or trigger all the others. And while the Bulletin has not yet added AI as its own standalone threat, it is accelerating the threat of disinformation by helping to flood the zone.

So why nine seconds? Some of you are probably ahead of me on that, but that of course it the time-worn industry reference for the fact that human attention in the digital age has fallen below that of a goldfish.

I have no idea if that is even scientifically true, but it is a great metaphor so I'm using it here to evoke a new sense of urgency that time is running out.

Honestly, I don't have anything prescriptive to share with you in this column. My zone is just as flooded as yours is.

But I do know this, the ad industry is at least partly culpable for the acceleration of information technologies enabling zones to flood.

The industry did it by backing the unfettered rise of social media platforms that now are the primary source for "news" and information for much of the population. And need I remind you, that unlike actual news organizations, digital platforms are largely exempt from liabilities associated with what they publish.

And I imagine that vector for spreading disinformation will only grow worse under the next administration, especially as the co-president-not-actually elected uses his newfound power to influence federal policy even more in that direction.

Let's not forget, he's the same guy who is suing the World Federation of Advertisers, as well as some of the biggest brands, and got them to pull the plug on GARM (Global Alliance for Responsible Media), which is the closest thing the ad industry has ever had to a cohesive effort to combat the rise of disinformation.

I can't wait to see what he does next.

And by that, I don't just mean forcing a federal government shutdown, though that might facilitate the administration's long-term goal of "deconstructing the administrative state."

I mean the role the richest person in the world -- now one of the most powerful unelected people in our government -- will do to help flood the zone. Not just on X -- or X + Truth Social -- or whatever media platform, but from within the new administrative state of mind.

The only real question is whether and for how long the actual president-elect will put up with someone equally -- maybe even more -- powerful sharing the limelight?

Over the course of Trump's cabinet nominations, as well as his appointment of advisors like Musk who do not need to be confirmed by the Senate, I've wondered what he was really up to, naming candidates so antithetically unqualified for some of our most sensitive governmental roles? And while I'm not the only person to suggest Trump has been taking a page out of his old reality TV playbook -- combining outrageousness and entertainment to capture people's attention -- I think it is more than just the production.

I even imagined him holding clandestine calls with his former "Apprentice" producers, or maybe just Steve Bannon, for help casting his new cabinet.

But toward what end?

Part of me thinks it is that he actually wants to relive his true moment of glory, when he was the star of a top-rated TV show.

But another part believes it's a means to an end, part Trump's incredibly art of misdirection, distracting us so we don't see what's really going on.

I plan to republish this January 2017 column ("The Magic of Donald Trump") on Inauguration Day 2025, but I figured I'd link to it in this column now, because it says a lot about what his super power really is.

He might call it "the weave." But I call it good, old fashioned magic. But in this case, the very black kind.

And since I don't want to leave you on such a downer note so close to the holidays, let me give you a gift of music I stumbled upon while poking around on the Bulletin's site. You might be as surprised as me to learn that they actually have a playlist of songs you can listen to while we're swimming in this fishbowl. Coincidentally, it includes some of my favorites.

You already know I'm kind of morbid that way, but honestly, I wish we weren't actually there.