To the point with Saletan, I have a personal reminiscence that I think is telling. I grew up with a very conservative father who in the early 1990s listened to Rush Limbaugh. So I was exposed to a steady diet of conservative discourse (although even then I thought Rush was an a** and couldn't stand him). And I remember thinking at some p…
To the point with Saletan, I have a personal reminiscence that I think is telling. I grew up with a very conservative father who in the early 1990s listened to Rush Limbaugh. So I was exposed to a steady diet of conservative discourse (although even then I thought Rush was an a** and couldn't stand him). And I remember thinking at some point as a pre-teen, probably '91 or '92 or so, that the libs were ruining America and the situation was so desperate, maybe a dictatorship was justified as at least a temporary solution. I also knew this wasn't something you could say publicly.
Obviously, since I'm reading the Bulwark, my views evolved as I grew older and, at least in a few respects, more mature intellectually and emotionally. But I suspect, strongly, that I'm not the only one who had that thought. And that was thirty years ago, and many minds have been marinating in that propaganda sewage for decades at this point, the rhetoric has gotten more extreme, and now the conservative propaganda ecosystem is so well-developed you can stay there and get your existing opinions validated non-stop.
For those who live in that world, in which your political opponents are implacable, hate-filled monsters coming after you because of what you are, it's a lot like living in a sectarian failed state like Lebanon. No matter how corrupt, incompetent, or personally vile your sect's leader is, you have to vote for him because it's zero-sum, and the other sects hate you and will rob you and oppress you because of what you are. Your sect's worst leader is infinitely preferable to another sect's virtuous, best leader. You don't feel like a bad person or an aggressor because you're just acting in self-defense. That's why Fox and co. spend such immense amounts of time creating a sense of victimization and portraying their opponents as relentlessly and mercilessly attacking. Al Qaida and ISIL propaganda was very similar in tone and filled with images of purported Muslim victims of Crusader atrocities, and that's because it works. If you want to convince someone to hate someone they can't be a well-meaning but misguided loyal opposition, they have to be a vessel of evil and malice. If the Dems are eating babies and working for the ChiComs, then what's corruptly monetizing the presidency? It's not like he's a cannibalistic murderer!
I've been known to say that if centuries of democracy ends in America, it will be because Rush Limbaugh and Rupert Murdoch are truly world-historical individuals, just like Genghis Khan. No, they weren't sufficient, but they were necessary and the years their platforms spent grooming a big chunk of Americans to accept lies and half-truths, to dehumanize and delegitimize their opponents, paved the road we're on today.
I vividly remember the Clinton years when Rush would open every show with “Day (whatever) of America Held Hostage” and thinking about kids in the car with their dad listening to that and thinking about the damage it could do. Now we know, those kids and their dads stormed the capitol and have destroyed the Republican Party.
To the point with Saletan, I have a personal reminiscence that I think is telling. I grew up with a very conservative father who in the early 1990s listened to Rush Limbaugh. So I was exposed to a steady diet of conservative discourse (although even then I thought Rush was an a** and couldn't stand him). And I remember thinking at some point as a pre-teen, probably '91 or '92 or so, that the libs were ruining America and the situation was so desperate, maybe a dictatorship was justified as at least a temporary solution. I also knew this wasn't something you could say publicly.
Obviously, since I'm reading the Bulwark, my views evolved as I grew older and, at least in a few respects, more mature intellectually and emotionally. But I suspect, strongly, that I'm not the only one who had that thought. And that was thirty years ago, and many minds have been marinating in that propaganda sewage for decades at this point, the rhetoric has gotten more extreme, and now the conservative propaganda ecosystem is so well-developed you can stay there and get your existing opinions validated non-stop.
For those who live in that world, in which your political opponents are implacable, hate-filled monsters coming after you because of what you are, it's a lot like living in a sectarian failed state like Lebanon. No matter how corrupt, incompetent, or personally vile your sect's leader is, you have to vote for him because it's zero-sum, and the other sects hate you and will rob you and oppress you because of what you are. Your sect's worst leader is infinitely preferable to another sect's virtuous, best leader. You don't feel like a bad person or an aggressor because you're just acting in self-defense. That's why Fox and co. spend such immense amounts of time creating a sense of victimization and portraying their opponents as relentlessly and mercilessly attacking. Al Qaida and ISIL propaganda was very similar in tone and filled with images of purported Muslim victims of Crusader atrocities, and that's because it works. If you want to convince someone to hate someone they can't be a well-meaning but misguided loyal opposition, they have to be a vessel of evil and malice. If the Dems are eating babies and working for the ChiComs, then what's corruptly monetizing the presidency? It's not like he's a cannibalistic murderer!
I've been known to say that if centuries of democracy ends in America, it will be because Rush Limbaugh and Rupert Murdoch are truly world-historical individuals, just like Genghis Khan. No, they weren't sufficient, but they were necessary and the years their platforms spent grooming a big chunk of Americans to accept lies and half-truths, to dehumanize and delegitimize their opponents, paved the road we're on today.
I vividly remember the Clinton years when Rush would open every show with “Day (whatever) of America Held Hostage” and thinking about kids in the car with their dad listening to that and thinking about the damage it could do. Now we know, those kids and their dads stormed the capitol and have destroyed the Republican Party.
And if you think that was bad, today’s preteens and teens are being “groomed” with a continuous diet of hate that makes Rush look harmless.