March 15, 2026
We’ve Been Gish Galloped
Confused? Indecisive? Here’s why
Hello Lucky Ones,
No. I don’t mean a galloping horse doing something unusual in a horse race.
Yes. I mean what Trump did to Bidden in the 2024 Presidential Debate and what is being done to us, the people, on social media, TV ads, news broadcasts and etc. right now.
Gish Galloped defined
We are Gish Galloped when we are deliberately and intentionally overwhelmed with an excessive number of statements that are usually lies and misinformations at such a speed that it is impossible for us to respond.
In the 2024 Presidential Debate, Trump, faster than the speed of light, overwhelmed Biden with a huge number of falsehoods, half-truths and distractions.
When Trump did this to Biden, he also did it to everyone watching on TV and in the actual location of the debate including journalists and camera people.
This was deliberately done. Trump knew he was disorienting Biden AND us.
Most of the observers were TV viewers. We immediately disconnected.
Why We Disconnected
We think we did this out of our disgust with Trump’s usual behavior of breaking precedent, rules and laws.
No. We disconnected because our mind told us to, “Get away. Escape. Now.”
The Brain Needs
The truth is our brain needs peace, order and processing time so that it can deal with incoming information.
When our mind doesn’t get these three—peace, order and processing time—it gets confused and cannot do its job.
Consequences of Being Gish Galloped
If the brain gets confused, it will shut down. If information comes too fast, it will stop working. If Gish Galloped often enough, the mind could die.
A confused people whose minds are damaged cannot solve problems, cannot fight back.
When this happens the enemy has we, the people, exactly where it wants us: confused, unable to think, and unable to respond.
Notice on social media, again and again, we, the people, will identify a wrong, but we stop short of giving a solution because our mind is suffering from being Gish Galloped.
Healing Gish Gallop
So. How do we recover from being Gish Galloped?
Many of us have turned from social media, news broadcasts, etc.
This is not the answer. In these times, we absolutely have to know what is going on. So, what do we do?
Step 1. Know what it is
• Gish Gallop is plain, old-fashion abuse. Emotional abusers love this technique.
• Remember: the goal of Gish Gallop is to overwhelm. The goal is not clarity. The goal is not truth.
• Remember: it is not only debaters who use the Gish Gallop technique, but it is also used by attorneys, salespeople, and anyone who wants to bury truth under a ton of words and noise.
• Remember: Gish Gallop is a weapon. It is an imbalance of power. It is like being double dared to do something dangerous, immoral or unethical. It is like being alone with the school or office bullies.
Step 2. Name it
When you suspect you are being Gish Galloped, say, “Oh. I am being Gish Galloped. I will not tolerate lies and misinformation”; then do what our minds told us to do the night of the Presidential Debate: disconnect, escape, etc.
Step 3. Take care of our mind/brain
Give it rest, and peace. Give it the right foods for brain health. Slow down. Give it time to process the information coming to it.
Now what
So. Now we know that night of the Presidential Debate, we were also targets, not just Biden; we also became victims, not just Biden.
Now we know our job is to protect our mind/brain from these attacks. We don’t have to withdraw from life, but we do have to be constantly aware.
We do have to declare, “I know what the enemy is doing and I refuse to participate.”
And so, it is.
Teacher Barb, accessing inner wisdom
Notes:
https://wesurviveabuse.com/the-gish-gallop-when-overload…/
https://finalfifth.com/the-gish-gallop-how-narcissists…/
July 23, 2023
Human Rights
The discussion in one of my classes today was about human rights. The student was an older Japanese woman. She is taking classes to prepare to get work in a field different from the one she works in now. The instructor in one of her classes asked her to define human rights; she couldn’t do it.
Even after I located and shared this website with her–https://hrbaportal.org/list-of-human-rights
—she couldn’t talk about human rights.
She said that the Japanese language made it very difficult to discuss human rights.
I haven’t studied Japanese, so I don’t know if this is so or not.
However, her question made me wonder if language is a barrier to adding what might be new ideas to a culture.
In 1948, one of the things that happened was world leaders deciding on the basic rights of all humans. This was done largely in response to the atrocities of the Holocaust.
Some of those rights are that every human has a name. Recall that prisoners of the Holocaust were given numbers instead of names.
Some other rights are the right to an education, the right to move or travel, the right to health care.
I have many thoughts from this class.
One of them is that a copy of this website needs to be sent to every elected official and employee in Washington and all the states.
Recent news indicates that many have forgotten the rights that were agreed upon at the end of World War 11.
So, I feel good about me because I have reminded myself of my rights as a human.
Barbara Lucas teaches 