The rigid right wing of the Republican Party locked itself into a bunkered reality long ago. Their information bubble is incredibly effective at isolating their lives from dissent and differing opinions.
The result is that facts don’t matter to this faction of the GOP. If their personal opinion differs from proven reality, then it’s a conspiracy of “the liberal media”. They define what’s fact and what’s fiction, not the world around them. This total isolation from accepted social norms is becoming unacceptable.
Do media outlets have biases? Of course they do, but only a fraction of what the extreme right wing believes – and believes as a result of being told so by right-wing media outlets.
Diversity of information is vital to a healthy democracy.
Responsible citizens seek information from as many sources as possible, including those with which they disagree.
Responsible citizens actively seek all viewpoints so they have the tools to decide for themselves. They don’t isolate themselves in a space occupied only by the like-minded created by a single information source.
When the information a person digests comes from a single viewpoint, that person is totally incapable of making their own decisions: they’re being told what to think and what to do.
Republican Reality Denialism: GOP has lost control of its conspiracy minded base
In the last 12-16 years, the phenomenon that is republican reality denialism has seeped into the moderate parts of the Republican Party; mostly because the republican base’s anger, aggressiveness, and sometimes down right scariness totally controls republican primary elections.
Blaming the media and declaring all others liars is a great method of controlling the conservative brain: it justifies its overly active assigning of risk, and builds the ego as a result. Combine media blame with evangelicalism, and the GOP put George W. Bush into the White House. The intensity of the “us agianst them” narrative, however, has created two different realities, and that puts America into a precarious position if Hillary Clinton wins the Presidency.
We saw a glimpse of republican reality denialism in 2012 when Karl Rove made a fool of himself on election night. The republican base voter’s battle against the media in 2016 is much more aggressive than it was in 2012. We find that escalation unsettling. When a large group has but one answer to everything with which they disagree – you’re a liar – then hope of a democratic dialog no longer exists.
Four years ago we saw it as disbelief in Karl Rove’s eyes (in this case he was drinking the Kool-Aid of his own super PAC). Now imagine the eyes of the sucker-punching masses of Donald J. Trump supporters? Will we see disbelief or something else?
Those in the far right are wholly convinced the media is just as crooked as “the devil” Hillary Clinton. They see Hillary Clinton as the devil and the media as her scepter. (Yes, they say it metaphorically, but the point is we’re dealing with deep-seeded hatred coupled with complete condemnation of anyone who is outside their worldview.) Given the GOP voter base basically thinks Hillary Clinton is Beelzebub: how do you think they’ll take the news if Donald Trump loses the election?
Will they even believe it, or will they uniformly declare the election was rigged?
Will they believe that “their” country has been stolen from them?
What happens if Hillary Clinton becomes president?
It’s too late to bring the hard-liners in the GOP back to the reality that listening to other opinions is good for democracy. Both political parties ignored them for too long. Republicans and democrats tend to sweep their extremes under the rug. But as POLITUSIC said before, you can’t ignore the darkness in politics. Sooner or later you have to confront it. If you don’t face the darkness the backlash can be ugly, because the longer a group exists in an isolated worldview, the more real it feels to them – and they’ll fight like hell to hold onto it. This is bigger than just being told Santa Clause isn’t real.
The worst case scenario involves roads blocked with “Take our county back” banners and their arsenal of AR-15s. The best case scenario is they isolate themselves even further from the rest of America.
Neither is good for the overall political stability (and viability) of American politics.
Hillary Clinton winning the presidential election could put the Republican Party on the brink of splitting. If the GOP continues to cater to the extreme right wing because of their primary election fears, then it’s easy to see moderate republicans flocking to declare themselves independent or libertarian.
On the other hand, if the GOP finally stands up to their rabid base, then it’s easy to see Trumpsters, Tea Partiers and Preppers fabricate a new, hyper conservative party – a party motivated by fear and hate, that rejects differing opinions, and that hordes the vast majority of guns in America.
It certainly will be interesting.
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Published: by | Updated: 11-14-2016 06:52:08
