r/politics • u/Aggravating_Money992 • 8d ago

No Paywall ‘She Can Barely Read’: New Trump Press Secretary Katie Zacharia Faceplants in First Briefing

https://www.commondreams.org/news/katie-zacharia-debut-briefing
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u/Popular_Biscotti405 8d ago

Brother you have no idea how bad it actually is. I’ve had to explain to grown adults about object permanence. I’ve had to explain that the Sun and the moon are not the same size. I’ve had someone ask me when the 4th of July is.

It is unbelievable to me how stupid the people that I’m forced to interact with are.

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u/PM_me_the_bootyhole 8d ago

My coworker saw me reading a book by the pool on a work trip and said “look at this smarty pants”. I was embarrassed for him and just sad.

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u/Giff13 7d ago

I was collecting plastics to recycle and I had a coworker say oh you're one of those people..

OK?

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u/Honest_World_3561 7d ago

I am hated by many at work for the sin of putting plastic in the plastics recycling bin. Though they will cheerfully toss their leftover food in it. People have become so weird.

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u/AggressiveDealer2220 6d ago

Recycling is a hoax. 

No amount of recycling is going to do a damn thing when you have entire industries out there burning bunker fuel or destroying our oceans trawling. 

Nevermind that in most places, recycled trash ends up in the same landfill as everything else.

But hey it makes you feel better about yourself so let's keep doing it 

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u/5zepp 7d ago

They can't articulate it, but in a way this situation represents the hubris of liberalism in general. Not political liberalism, but general liberalism which is way too susceptible into making one think that, because they are educated and have a very developed mind and a mindset that makes internal sense, that they are right in what they do. Plastic recycling is largely a scam, and there's a fair to good chance that your plastic is not being actually recycled to any significant effect, at least not to offset all the oil used to move it around. So they see it as performative and even judgmental. Which it largely is, but it's hard for people like us to be able to acknowledge that or understand how someone else might feel that way and not judge them for it. Like shaming them on foryms like this.

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u/Markshadow4999 Europe 7d ago

Really? Are you sure it's not just because "protecting the environment = woke"?

This genuinely sounds like you are trying to attach a deep meaning to something surface level.

Trump also constantly gets rid of environmental protection initiatives and they don't say a word about them, is protected land also performative?

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u/kjlcm 7d ago edited 6d ago

I can't figure out if there are brainwashed into owning the libs or just fucking stupid. Why would anyone embrace policies that are detrimental to the environment so some billionaires can get richer? It makes no sense.

Sincerely, an outraged American

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u/AggressiveDealer2220 6d ago

They were told those policies are why they can't afford things. They believe anything they are told by their handlers, so it's a losing battle. 

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u/5zepp 5d ago

I'm pointing out how this is a perfect example - performative action based on self important ideals that are actually a scam - and then looking down on someone who, from their perspective, sees right through that. I don't follow what you are getting at though.

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u/Markshadow4999 Europe 5d ago

I'm just saying that your reasoning sounds way too... Well, reasoned... for the kind of people we are talking about.

Things are often much simpler than that, ever heard "You can't reason someone out of a position they haven't reasoned themselves into"?

Imo most of them just latched onto the idea that recycling is bad because they've basically been told constantly that the environment doesn't need protecting and global warming is a hoax. They don't really think about what they preach, they just repeat it.

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u/cmVkZGl0MjAyNQ 7d ago

To recall an old Bill Hicks bit:

> whatchu reading for?

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u/Spell_Chicken 7d ago

I don't wanna be a fuckin waffle waitress.

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u/bloodphoenix90 6d ago

I think id immediately say ew, like involuntarily, before i could even think about it. I get full body disgust from people who take weird pride in having the intelligence of an inbred squirrel.

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u/mysteryofthefieryeye 8d ago

I permanently object to the Republican Party, is that a form of object permanence?

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u/treasonousToaster180 8d ago

My sister in law told us all a few months ago that she isn't sure dinosaurs existed. We had been to the museum like a month prior. Like girl we saw the bones

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u/AtticusFinchsMom 7d ago

My bestie thinks the earth is flat and the moon landing is fake.

I weep for her ignorance, and cognitive dissonance. I can hardly talk to her right now.
I don't know how to get through to her.

FWIW, we both went to the same high school. It's in a very affluent district in Minnesota.

Her older sister is MAGA too, and a school teacher with a master's degree. She also attended the same high school as we did. She knows the earth is not flat, and the moon landing is real.

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u/CategoryZestyclose91 7d ago

Oh lord. 

Edina, that you?

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u/sumadeumas 7d ago

Too much cake, now the moon landing’s fake.

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u/AtticusFinchsMom 7d ago

Bite your tongue, I am no cake eater!

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u/CategoryZestyclose91 4d ago

Hahahahahahaha Edina unites us all

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u/FinalHexReturns 7d ago

A real flat earther?

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u/AtticusFinchsMom 7d ago

Yes. Seriously.

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u/ContactRepulsive 5d ago

Well...I hope she's at least nice.

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u/lustywench99 7d ago

We found this out about my former step mother AT the museum. She gave no signs. She didn’t even go to church. Then she spouted off that nonsense. My dad and I were horrified.

Fun fact, we both divorced our spouses soon after… and both of us had many reasons but that museum trip kind of sealed the deal. He’d married a psycho and I’d married an idiot who didn’t know King Tutankhamen was also King Tut. I mean, that’s not the whole reason I got divorced. But like… standing in mixed company at the event and that’s your contribution, asking if we’d heard of King Tut and then having to be told yeah, that’s literally what you just saw? Whew.

But yeah no, the dinosaur thing was the most egregious of the day. She couldn’t look at any of them because they were lies. And dinosaurs are my special interest. Never once said a thing until she saw her first fossil and then boom. Unbeliever.

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u/ThePhoenixXM Massachusetts 7d ago

Jesus, we are a sad country. How can you look at dinosaur bones and lose your shit?

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u/RegularTeacher2 7d ago

Yeah, years ago my ex told me he wasn't sure if evolution was real and felt that creationism should be taught alongside it, "to be fair." That's when the relationship died for me.

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u/TucuReborn 7d ago

Okay, but it should be taught.

Because that style of belief was widespread historically and gives context to certain scientific advancements in the period. It's wrong, but it's part of history. Much like we don't skip over the advent of hand washing in medicine, and include the whole "fingers dipped in infected corpse juice" as context to why it was so impactful. We don't talk about corpse juice to convince people it's fine, we do it to explain the history.

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u/RegularTeacher2 7d ago

Well he meant moreso it should be taught as a hypothetical possibility as much as evolution, which I vehemently disagree with. Now if it was taught in the way I think you're proposing, I would be more open to that.

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u/TucuReborn 7d ago

I get ya, no worries. Fully agree that teaching it as is and equal would be a problem. I just think it's good to teach it, so it can be explained why it's wrong and why it's important we move past it.

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u/RegularTeacher2 7d ago

I would absolutely support that approach. Imagine the outrage from the right if that were instituted.

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u/entropybasedorganism 7d ago

Sometimes rocks just do that

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u/VRS302 8d ago

Tide goes in, tide goes out. Can’t explain that.

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u/FellowHumanNo404 8d ago

Never a miscommunication!

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u/Tormofon 7d ago

The smug face on him as he said that.

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u/Confident-Bear-1754 7d ago

How'd the moon get there? How'd it get there?

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u/Casty201 8d ago

Actually can you explain that one cause I know what causes it but the details I never learned

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u/chadwickipedia Massachusetts 8d ago

It’s the bulge fron the moons gravity pulling the ocean water

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u/Kaa_The_Snake I voted 8d ago

Damned sexy moon and its bulge!

But to add to your answer for whomever reads it, the sun also pulls at the water, and when the sun and moon are on the same side (like when you see the moon during the day) is when you get the higher tides.

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u/tomsing98 8d ago

Technically, the bulge is caused by the difference in the moon's gravity across the Earth. The moon pulls on the Earth and accelerates the Earth toward it. (But since the moon and Earth are in orbit, that acceleration turns the Earth around the center of the system, rather than crashing the two together.) But the moon is a little closer to Earth particles on the same side, so it pulls them a little harder than the average force on the Earth, creating a bulge toward the moon. And it is a little further away from Earth particles on the far side, so it pulls them a little more weakly, which means the rest of the Earth is being pulled away from them, creating a bulge on the opposite side. The Earth rotates under these bulges once a day, while the moon revolves more slowly, which is why you have ~2 high tides each day. There are a lot of other things going on, but that's the basic effect.

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u/FinalHexReturns 7d ago

Less technically, more of the bulge is caused by water surging from the 'sides' of the earth towards the end facing the moon. Not so much that the bulge is being lifted up towards the moon, as it is water sloshing 'downhill' (as defined by gravity not height)

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u/RickSt3r 8d ago

You dont know how to use Google and get to Wikipedia?

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u/Casty201 8d ago

BORING

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u/Redactadon 7d ago

Tide Pod goes in? Okay
🍬😵

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u/Sir_clint 8d ago

The pods right? They are never there to take out after

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u/DankZXRwoolies 8d ago

That's easy. Magnets!

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u/Box_of_rodents 7d ago

Something something moon and werewolves

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u/Needrain47 7d ago

Nobody knows how it works!

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u/Virtual_Ad9989 7d ago

Fucking magnets! How else?!

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u/tamil_boy 7d ago

These are small cows, those ones are far away.

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u/StardustOasis Foreign 7d ago

It's no use Ted, I'm not getting it

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u/Fjordi_Cruyff 7d ago

Father Dougal is a genius compared to this lot

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u/flea1400 8d ago

“I’ve had someone ask me when the4th of July is.”

Surely they must have meant on what day o the week it would fall that year? Or the date of the fireworks display in that town or something?!

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u/mypantsareawesome 7d ago

When I worked at Taco Bell I’d regularly have people ask how many tacos came in the 12 pack. So…

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u/AvocadoYogi 7d ago

Did you answer a dozen?

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u/mypantsareawesome 7d ago

I’d pretend I couldn’t hear them and have them repeat the question until they figured it out for themselves lol

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u/magharees 7d ago

If they’re baked then 13?

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u/Da12khawk 7d ago

Someone just the other day asked me when Thanksgiving is.

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u/smooth-as-mud 7d ago

Thanksgiving is on a different day every year, this doesn’t seem like that crazy of a question?

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u/Da12khawk 7d ago

He thought it was a specific date. In the states its the 4th Thursday of November.

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u/smooth-as-mud 7d ago

I mean it is on a specific date each year though? If I asked somebody today “when is thanksgiving” the answer I would be looking for would be “November 26th,” seems fairly reasonable not to know off the top of your head what date the fourth Thursday of November is at any given time.

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u/Master-Shake8913 8d ago

dude... why did you have to explain object permanence to an adult?

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u/Popular_Biscotti405 8d ago

One is actually sun related again, funnily enough. It was during the eclipse and a guy asked me “where does the sun go,” I was stunned.

Then during COVID I had to explain just because we stop testing does not mean the disease goes away. Not necessarily “object” permanence but along the same lines.

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u/adonericthewayfarer 8d ago

and a guy asked me “where does the sun go,” I was stunned.

Just a random guy on the street you were viewing the eclipse alongside? Damn...

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u/Popular_Biscotti405 7d ago

Not really a stranger, but not someone I know very well. It was a guy who works for a company that my company works closely with. We have maybe 5 interactions per year.

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u/Needrain47 7d ago

the latter is just quoting the president. "Testing leads to cases." that's been his take from the beginning.

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u/Forward_Thrust963 7d ago

I bet they'd believe you stole their nose too.

"I see it wiggling between your thumb and middle finger! I can't be on my face still!"

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u/fort_wendy 8d ago

When I talk to boomers, I realize that they do not, infact, have object permanence and abstract thought.

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u/SirPiffingsthwaite 8d ago

I had to yell 'stop' when the adult driving was about to pull out in front of another car. There was a bus queued to turn, we both watched the car disappear on the other side of the bus, then she started to go.

I couldn't believe it, we both saw that car, asked her why she'd pull out, where she thought the other car would go: "I don't know, I couldn't see it."

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u/JohnnyBeBlazed 8d ago

As an embarrassed American like yourself it’s astonishing how pridefully dumb and incorrect many are. At this point I believe most Americans are losers who I try to avoid speaking to beyond basic pleasantries.

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u/Timely_Cake_8304 8d ago

Just t week someone told me they always thought the moon was bigger than the earth.

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u/Bosa_McKittle California 8d ago

I had to explain to a VP of my former company that a republic is a form of democracy. A fucking VP. Idiots exist at all levels.

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u/dismantle_repair Ohio 8d ago

Yeah, that's what happens when you defund education for longer than I've been alive.

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u/smarmcl 8d ago

Omfg, no, I did not realize it's that bad in the US.

You must be so patient! If I had to explain the the sun is larger than the moon, I think I would have just walked out into the woods never to be seen again. That shit's depressing. Good on you for fighting the good fight!

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u/Legitimate-Garlic959 7d ago

The decline in functional literacy and media comprehension is alarming. People struggle to grasp nuance, which makes constructive dialogue impossible. Any differing perspective gets immediately misconstrued as a personal insult.

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u/smarmcl 7d ago

Absolutely. Critical thinking and empathy as well. My guess is, we just all have our own versions of it to various degrees.

Even so, that's rough.

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u/Odd_Ant5 7d ago

I mean...when I lived in rural Japan I had someone (local) ask me in all earnestness if the moon was the same in the US as in Japan.

I think the one thing I can say in defense of my country, the US, is that we're honest and open about how stupid we are.

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u/lunar_adjacent 8d ago

Imagine if this is where our education system has led us to now, how abysmal the results will be for the kids going through the system now.

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u/Squirrely__Dan 7d ago

When I think about how stupid the average person is, I have to continuously remind myself that half of all people are even dumber than that

We’re pushing through and graduating high schoolers who are functionally illiterate. It’s going to get even worse.

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u/giantsfan9336 5d ago

Bro I dropped my daughter off at school and was filling out the sign in sheet for her, and another parent asked me the time. I told her my phone is in the car but I looked around the room for a clock, found it, and pointed it out. She didn't know how to read it.

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u/Pleasant-Winner6311 8d ago

Wtf.

Thats like living in The Body Snatchers movie. Eventually they'll be no one left to share this absence of knowledge with.

So depressing.

Please vote in November. Everyone counts. This should be a war footing for the survival of western democracy.

I wish you guy weren't so damn influential. But this poison is bleeding out all over Europe too.

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u/Popular_Biscotti405 8d ago

My vote is in, I vote by mail. Unfortunately it won’t make a huge difference because I live in a fairly left leaning district in New Jersey.

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u/Pleasant-Winner6311 7d ago

Good stuff. I should have ben more clear in saying that you sound to me like someone who votes and im speaking rhetorically to the better half of USAs voting power.

God speed November & stay safe ya'll x

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u/lookatthebr1ghtside 8d ago

WHEN IS CINCO DE MAYO

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u/Advanced_Musician_75 8d ago

Guest: Is this how I get to the exhibit?

Me: Yes, but it’s closed.

Guest: The doors are closed and I can’t get in.

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u/No_Diver6131 Wisconsin 7d ago

I have been diagnosed with the stupid. What is object permanence?

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u/Popular_Biscotti405 7d ago

It’s just a fancy name for understanding that just because you don’t see something, it doesn’t mean that thing no longer exists. Toddlers typically struggle with object permanence.

The test is asking them to tell you where a toy (or really anything) is and then they point it out to you. Then you cover the toy and ask again. If they say they don’t know where it is they haven’t developed object permanence yet.

I was once asked where the sun goes during an eclipse… by a 45 year old man.

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u/No_Diver6131 Wisconsin 7d ago

Interesting. I know exactly what it is, I’ve just never heard of it being referred to as that. It’s like peek a boo with toddlers. Objects permanence makes me think of the saying “out of sight out of mind” especially when it comes to garbage and waste. 

Hey now that’s a valid question by that guy, where does the sun go during a solar eclipse? Now that you got thinking…Where does the sun go every night??

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u/Illustrious_Pound282 7d ago

When is the 4th of July?
I refuse to believe that. But I actually do.

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u/PharmyC 7d ago

It's just wild to me. I get exposed when I return to STL sometimes but having been in Chicago for 18 years surrounded by educated people, I just was naive in thinking everyone else continued to grow after high school. They did not.

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u/blahblahshowmeurcat 7d ago

LOL my very well to do sister in law asked me when 4th of July was… and she is from the outskirts of Philly!! She makes killer money, bought her own very nice house, and… well. I don’t make much money, but I like to think I am well educated.

It’s wild. It’s sad. If it doesn’t make money, it isn’t taught it seems these days

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u/FlaccidPancake420 7d ago

Idiocracy was supposed to be irony and satire.

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u/OddSwitch3765 7d ago

Yes, Americans seem to have become incredibly stupid over the past 3 or 4 decades. Wtf happened

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u/mein_account 7d ago

In a certain sense, the sun and moon are the same size.

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u/jsamuraij 7d ago

Magnets! How do they work?! 🤡

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u/WadtF 7d ago

When is the 4th of July?
When I saw Idiocracy in 2006, I didn't expect it to become reality so soon.

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u/wade_wilson44 7d ago

Had a maga acquaintance of mine telling me nyc was a hellhole, I said yeah but actually crime is down and he said, with a totally straight face, full of confidence, that’s because all the criminals are waiting underground for a few months to completely take over the subway next. And of course the libs know and are allowing it.

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u/Popular_Biscotti405 7d ago

I live in NJ but have family in the Deep South. The last time I went to visit, my cousins friend tried telling me about all the awful stuff that’s happening in my state. I contradicted him and he was like “come on man, I just read all about it,” I was like “dude. I literally live there. None of what you said is happening.”

You’d think if crime was so rampant I would’ve seen some of it. But apparently I’m just blind.

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u/Lanky-Age-9088 7d ago

The fact that someone had to explain any of this to a grown adult is genuinely concerning. How do these people make it through life?

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u/Popular_Biscotti405 7d ago

Not only that. Some of these people run multi million dollar companies. I always thought I was at about average intellect but I’m starting to feel like I’m closer to Stephen hawking than they are to me.

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u/allstyle777 7d ago

I was standing in line at a sub shop and the person in front of me was asked “would you like a 6” or footlong sub” he responded 100% serious “I don’t know which one is longer”

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u/Actual_Dog_1637 7d ago

While there are unbelievably stupid people in the US, you are most definitely a bot. So no, you most likely did not have those conversations.

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u/Popular_Biscotti405 7d ago

Sure buddy. I’m a bot. You got me. Beep boop beep bop.

Keep telling people how their experiences aren’t real.

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u/Actual_Dog_1637 7d ago

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