Steve M. is a connoisseur of right-wing media, which may be why is more readily alarmed and prone to pessimism than I am. When it comes to wingnut media, I barely touch the stuff. The only time I watch Fox is when things have gone badly wrong for the GOP and I want to watch them suffer. The right-wing blogs are not in my daily mix, and I only seek them out when I’m really at a loss to find new content. The truth is, I already know what’s going on in those media spaces. Minds are being poisoned. People are being turned into worse people. Hate-flames are being tended. A despicable and dishonorable alternate universe is being erected.
The details hardly matter.
What matters is how people like Chris Cillizza respond to this alternative universe. Do they watch in detached fashion to evaluate the effectiveness of this poison? Or do they take a stand for truth and decency?
Our Republic may be able to survive the existence of a permanent Mighty Right-Wing Wurlitzer of hate and fear, but not if it isn’t more than counteracted by people in the reality-based community.
Paul Ryan gave a speech last night that came straight out of the alternative universe. How it is received by the actual universe is very important. How it is received by the denizens of the alternative universe is irrelevant. They’d say they loved it even if they hated it. They’d convince themselves they loved it even if they were disappointed. Steve M. senses that the Christie and Ryan speeches were like the twentieth MDMA trip for the wingnuts. They’ve consumed those lies so many times that they need ever-higher dosages to get high on them. Ryan and Christie simply didn’t deliver enough milligrams.
It’s an interesting theory that has some merit. But, ultimately, what matters is whether or not people who don’t live in the alternative universe of right-wing media understand or do not understand that they were just fed a pack of shameless and brazen lies. Are they turned into suckers or are they repelled by dishonesty? Who do they trust to arbitrate the issue? And what are those trusted people saying?
That’s why we have to police the corporate media. That’s why we have to call people like Chris Cillizza a loser.
