The Power of Context and the Mueller Report

My blog articles and other writing have occasionally applied social psychology and bias research to political happenings. But my research and writing are not inherently political. I’m no political pundit.

However, I am compelled to jump into the discussion on the inconsistencies between Attorney General Barr’s statements and the fuller version of the Mueller report. I feel compelled because my recent book, The Power of Context, and especially the section “Quoting out of Context” so deeply apply (Stalder, 2018).

Source: Kalhh/Pixabay

This section began with more lighthearted examples, such as movie ads that quote out of context. There was the case of a critic who said a movie was “hysterically overproduced and surprisingly entertaining,” but who was quoted to say “hysterically…entertaining.” The dot-dot-dot is one of the giveaways.

Conservative Skew

What numerous news outlets have easily noticed is that Mueller’s report provides an abundance of relevant context that Barr left out of his letters and press conference. In particular, many caught the fact that Barr’s initial summary contained not one full sentence from the Mueller report. The full sentences have turned out to convey different meanings. Thus, making judgments based on Barr’s statements alone is ripe for bias.

Professor Robert Reich tweeted that he would give a failing grade for a student paper that provided quotes as misleading as Barr's. Whether Barr intended to mislead is a harder question. The Washington Post contended that some lines were so out of context that they are simply inaccurate, earning three Pinocchios. Even Mueller’s investigators have conveyed that some of Barr’s statements were misleading (Rizzo, 2019).

I won’t reprint the many line-by-line examples already provided by news outlets. But let's highlight the area of obstruction. Mueller provided a lot of evidence for obstruction and even said that the evidence precluded any ability to clear Trump on this issue. Mueller also stated that he was following a policy not to indict a sitting president and that Congress has the power to decide on the issue of obstruction (Rizzo, 2019). Whether or not a reader thinks Mueller wants Congress to impeach, those statements from Mueller (omitted by Barr) provide alternative explanations for why Mueller did not indict Trump for obstruction.

There are other cases in which context contradicted conservative talking points. In 2011, the Mitt Romney campaign for president quoted Obama as saying, “If we keep talking about the economy, we’re going to lose.” But Obama was quoting the 2008 McCain campaign. The full statement from Obama was, “Senator McCain’s campaign actually said, and I quote, ‘If we keep talking about the economy, we’re going to lose’” (Montopoli, 2011).

Some conservatives have selectively quoted from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech to make King seem against affirmative action. Even Charles Darwin, the originator of evolutionary theory, has been selectively quoted to sound like he was against his own theory.

Liberals Do It, Too

Context can also contradict liberal talking points. Mitt Romney was quoted by liberals as saying, “I like being able to fire people.” But the fuller quote was, “[I]f you don’t like what they do, you can fire them. I like being able to fire people who provide services to me. You know, if someone doesn’t give me a good service that I need, I want to say I’m going to go get someone else to provide that service to me” (Jacobson, 2012).

A more prominent example regards liberal calls for justice when young black men are killed. In 2012, George Zimmerman, a white or Hispanic man, shot and killed Trayvon Martin, a black 17-year-old. NBC played a segment of a 911 tape from the night of the shooting where Zimmerman said of Martin, “This guy looks like he’s up to no good…He looks black.”

An open-and-shut case of racism. Right? No.

The full tape revealed that after Zimmerman said, “This guy looks like he’s up to no good,” the 911 operator asked if this guy is “white, black, or Hispanic.” Zimmerman replied, “He looks black” (Philbin, 2013). A direct multiple-choice question from the 911 operator was the missing context. Zimmerman could still be racist but not on the basis of replying to this question from an authority figure. Overlooking the context in labeling someone racist is an example of the fundamental attribution error, not that it was the fault of listeners that NBC spliced the tape.

Bias Essential Reads

A World in Decline? Things Were Better in the Good Old Days

Ageism: The Dumbest Ism of Them All

Some NBC employees lost their jobs over this matter. I won’t speculate whether Barr could lose his.

Belief Perseverance

Zimmerman was ultimately found not guilty. Many liberals called it an injustice. Perhaps he should’ve been found guilty, but I wonder how many liberal concerns about injustice were fueled by the spliced tape. Unfortunately, because of something called belief perseverance, many tape-induced views against Zimmerman probably became so fixed that the full release of the tape didn’t matter. In general, retractions even on Page 1 don’t usually undo the effects of the initial out-of-context quotes (Greitemeyer, 2014). (Of course, the Zimmerman trial was based on much more than a 911 tape, and not all liberals rushed to judgment.)

Source: Daniel R. Stalder

I recommend reserving judgment. Wait for the full story, at least further information, before making a firm decision about someone. Easier said than done, I know. In the case of the Mueller report, that advice seems even more relevant because Barr’s initial summary provided such a small, misleading fraction of the actual report. Wait for the report. But how many views have become so fixed that the report no longer matters? And how much relevant context is still hiding in the redacted information?

Unfortunately, in addition to belief perseverance and fundamental attribution error, there is political tribalism. Republicans may follow Barr’s lead, while Democrats may cite all corners of the report. This trio of forces may be hard to overcome as the situation moves forward. I’m no political pundit. I make no prediction for the ultimate political outcome.