In the wake of the controversial vaccine skeptic and presidential candidate Robert Kennedy Jr.‘s dialogue with podcaster Joe Rogan, myriad people were moved to rebut the claims of Kennedy being amplified by Rogan — mainly about the alleged dangers of vaccinations and further, the conspiracies that enable them.
Billionaire Mark Cuban‘s response got the most attention, with nearly 30 million views on his defense of the pharmaceutical industry (of which he is not uncritical) and its commendable history of saving lives through vaccination.
Cuban ripped Rogan for bullying and disrespecting “all the doctors, researchers and medical professionals that dedicate their lives to saving lives.”
Way to talk in generalities Joe. Not saying there aren't a lot of f– up things about pharma. That's why we created https://t.co/jYSNkP7amr. But to ignore that the same industry has saved who knows how many lives is b—t and you know it.
— Mark Cuban (@mcuban) June 18, 2023
It's also disrespectful to all… https://t.co/bUawoBgbH6
Cuban also called out Rogan and Twitter owner Elon Musk for posing as outsiders while being the opposite, characterizing them as “the mainstream online media,” not — as they portray themselves — something that stands apart from MSM, righteously critiquing.
But though Cuban’s response was the most viewed, longtime music producer Steve Albini provided an enormously detailed response to the “debate me” kerfuffle that used a past music industry panic about alleged Satanism, based on disinformation and conspiracy theories, as an analogy.
Trying to argue or “debate” an anti-vaxxer who is cherry-picking information is analogous to arguing with people who believe Satanic coded messages are recorded into popular rock music records in order to convince vulnerable teens to harm themselves, Albini says.
Those imagined coded messages aren’t there — it can be proved — but the fact of their absence doesn’t have much effect on the argument.
In a long Twitter thread that incisively shows the similarities between the two scenarios, Albini — most famous as a producer on Nirvana‘s “In Utero” — explores the accusation against the rock band Judas Priest (and others) and demonstrates how the tactics used by anti-vaxxers resemble those used by the so-called anti-Satanists purportedly out to save kids from subversive messaging by nefarious rock bands.
Albini concludes: “So this fact-averse mindset persists, whether about evolution, vaccine efficacy, gun control or cryptic satanism. No matter how thoroughly an absurdity is shown to be bulls— and nonsense, its advocates will insist that didn’t happen.”
Here’s the thread:
A couple decades ago there was a christian panic about something the press started calling "backmasking," an outgrowth of the similarly absurd panic about subliminal messaging and advertising, about which I could also talk about for too long but will not now.
— steve albini (@electricalWSOP) June 18, 2023
This became a Big Deal. There were articles and TV shows about it, proponents mounted conferences, did public demonstrations and lectures, and eventually there were a core of believers who were convinced of the problem and adamant in outrage.
— steve albini (@electricalWSOP) June 18, 2023
Regardless, "secret messages" retained popular appeal and a few lawsuits were even pursued, one against the band Judas Priest, lent credibility by the passion of the people who believed in it, despite that they had no expertise or evidence, and an unlearned and credulous public.
— steve albini (@electricalWSOP) June 18, 2023
In order for something to appear on a record, forward or reverse, it would need to be recorded onto the master tape, and debunking it should be as simple as going through the tape track by track and demonstrating that there was no demonic message there.
— steve albini (@electricalWSOP) June 18, 2023
It was actually kinda close.https://t.co/ZWw9TBeYSg
— steve albini (@electricalWSOP) June 18, 2023
Judas Priest are a good example of why debating the willfully ignorant is a fool's errand. It's expensive and exhausting to have to disabuse people of patent bullshit they are attached to. You have to educate people who do not wish to learn and do not trust you.
— steve albini (@electricalWSOP) June 18, 2023
for master tapes that represent an investment of sometimes hundreds of thousands of dollars. You have to answer their ignorant objections continuously. And in the end they will just shrug and say, "I don't think so," and that will be that. They will remain unconvinced.
— steve albini (@electricalWSOP) June 18, 2023
You say there would be some evidence of the recording having been done, but couldn't it be done some other way? I recall a lawyer in the Judas Priest case arguing that the message in question was made as a composite of sounds including the vocal, guitar and hi-hat…
— steve albini (@electricalWSOP) June 18, 2023
Indulging the "DEBATE ME!" shitheels does nothing to further the truth. It is exhausting because its purpose is to exhaust you and no credible person should do it.
— steve albini (@electricalWSOP) June 18, 2023
