Everything has already been said.

Every argument has been made. Every scandal has been aired in public. Every outrage has been explained, countered, debunked, reaffirmed and recycled. And yet nothing seems to conclude. We are exhausted. That exhaustion is not accidental.

This is not because people are failing to pay attention. It is because attention itself has become the battlefield, and degrading our attention has become a political objective with real value.

Empowered by modern media technologies, we now live in a permanently flooded zone, one where volume overwhelms comprehension and repetition replaces resolution. Say something often enough and loudly enough, and eventually fiction begins to masquerade as fact. Not because people are stupid, but because human attention has limits.

The phrase “flood the zone,” often associated with Steve Bannon and Donald Trump, describes a strategy that no longer belongs to one party or one administration. The mechanics are now universal. Too many headlines. Too many urgent statements. Too many investigations announced and never brought to conclusion. Too much to assimilate, and no reliable way to bring anything to ground.

The result is whack-a-mole for our attention span. One story erupts, demanding focus. Before it can be understood, let alone resolved, it is displaced by the next. Over time, even engaged citizens stop trying to keep up. They retreat, simplify and adopt shortcuts to judgment,........

© Santa Clarita Valley Signal