As truth and reality fade, paranoia and conspiracy theories rise

Capital Hill Blue

This was interesting – “Other surveys reveal how many people in the United States now doubt the media, politicians, science and even each other.”

Along those lines you have this - 56% of Americans agree with the statement that "Journalists and reporters are purposely trying to mislead people by saying things they know are false or gross exaggerations."
58% think that "most news organizations are more concerned with supporting an ideology or political position than with informing the public."

https://www.axios.com/2021/01/21/media-trust-crisis

You had that Rasmussen poll where a third of each party think the other party and its members are the number one enemy of this nation. More than Russia, China, Iran, North Korea, terrorists, etc.

https://www.rasmussenreports.com/pu...voters_see_each_other_as_america_s_enemy

Only 36% of all Americans trust the media to report the news in a full, fair and accurate manner.

https://news.gallup.com/poll/355526...nt=morelink&utm_campaign=syndication

The media makes this paranoia easy for the viewers. If you’re a conservative, you tune in FoxNews, If you’re a liberal, there’s CNN and MSNBC. Not to mention the numerous web sites where one can get their news in the manner with the right political slant one wants. This leads to people believing exactly what they want to believe. Truth and facts are lost, conspiracy theories abound. Trust in our government is at an all time low, everyone knows any and all government officials lie, especially politicians. As the old joke goes, How can you tell a politician is lying, his lips are moving.

https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2022/06/06/public-trust-in-government-1958-2022/


No wonder so many people believe all these conspiracy theories, the CIA killed JFK, our own government destroyed the twin towers, Aliens did crash at Roswell and the government has the craft and bodies to prove it, but is covering it up, Free Masonry and the Bilderbergers are forming a one world government, and yes, the 2020 election was stolen due to massive voter fraud and a ton of more dumb conspiracy theories. But millions and millions of people believe in these conspiracy theories. I like the ancient alien theory; it almost makes sense. They’re here and they walk among us. Beware.

How very Russian.
Your theories about the media being responsible for this are as far fetched as anything one might read in Pravda.

So you don't think there is an issue with propaganda in the US? That the media does not twist the news into what people want to hear?

And that anyone who thinks there is is probably a supporter of Russia?

Quaint.

I was possibly one of the first here to talk about how American news is now a consumer product instead of a public service.
I made mention of my time at Brown and how Cronkite came to give a talk on the changing nature of news in this country back in 1979.

Where I see a Pravda feel is in the whole "Don't trust the government, don't trust media, don't trust ANYONE EVER on anything".
That is not American, or it didn't use to be.
And it was something I noticed back in 1989 first time I accompanied Viktor and Sergey to Moscow on our little business trip.

Pravda used to cost three kopeks and the running joke in the USSR was how "you can have the TRUTH for only three kopeks!"

So now here in Murrikuh ALL media should be categorically dismissed as lies.
The Lying Press --- Die Lugenpresse!

Oh wait, not ALL media!!!

FOX NEWS IS FAIR AND BALANCED!!!!

And meanwhile Trumpism IS indeed a RELIGION now.
But we'll just ignore that.

I have a feeling Trump won’t be around much longer. Trumpism will fade once he isn’t. Whether that’s this year or the next or the year after. Who knows? Trump is a has been who doesn’t know it yet. Democrats ought to be thankful for Trump being around as he’s limiting their loses for this year’s midterms. At least that’s what today’s numbers show. Without Trump still being around, the Democrats could be looking at 50 house seat loss and 5-6 senate seats with a president whose job approval is at 38% and a Democratic congress way below that, with 75% of all Americans thinking this country is headed in the wrong direction, those loses should be what is projected. Not a loss of 18-20 house seats and perhaps a gain of a senate seat. Thank Trump for that as independents are still very hesitant to vote for Trump backed candidates and the GOP in particular.

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/other/direction_of_country-902.html

As for not trusting government nor trusting the media, those are cold hard numbers without any political slant. You mentioned 1979, Gallup mentions 1972-76,

“These findings, from a Sept. 1-17 poll, are the latest in Gallup's tracking of the public's confidence in key U.S. institutions, which began in 1972. Between 1972 and 1976, 68% to 72% of Americans expressed trust in the mass media; yet, by 1997, when the question was next asked, trust had dropped to 53%. Trust in the media, which has averaged 45% since 1997, has not reached the majority level since 2003.”

Today, only 36% of all Americans either have a great deal or a fair amount of trust in the media to report the news fairly, fully and accurately. This number is for all media, Fox, CNN, MSNBC, TV, radio, newspapers etc.

https://news.gallup.com/poll/355526...nt=morelink&utm_campaign=syndication

As for trust in government, it fell from a high of 77% of all Americans down to 62% during LBJ, continued to drop during Nixon and Watergate down to 36%. It continued it downward spiral during Ford and Carter down to 25%. Trust has been at around 20% during Obama, Trump and now Biden.

https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2022/06/06/public-trust-in-government-1958-2022/

Cold hard numbers from unbiased sources, Gallup and Pew Research.

Um...no. Trumpism is here to stay. That horse has left the barn. My evidence?

* Madison Cawthorne
* Lauren Boebert
* Marjory Taylor Green
* Doug Mastriano
* Lindsey Graham


These people are like roaches and they bred and infest the body politic. Trumpism here to stay until it completely destroys the GOP.

Trumpism is just TEAbaggers born again under another banner. It will never go away but it will always be a noisy minority.

When the Trump flag falls they will pick another demagogue or another movement to latch onto. Madison Cauthorn is gone. I'm betting Greene only lasts a few terms, Mastriano will lose.

Graham is a Republican stalwart who will whore himself out to anyone. He'll be around longer than I will.

When the tea party was formed, the national debt was their number one and as far as I remember, their only issue. There was a certain kinship between us old Ross Perot Reform party members with them as that was our only issue. We believed any stances, pro or con on any other issue was up to the individual. The Reform Party took no official stance on any other issue. We had hoped the Tea Party would become a political party unto their own, a viable third party.

But they decided to join the Republican Party instead. I understood that with ballot access and a ton of other hoops any third party must jump through just to get on the ballot. Plus, a thousand other obstacles thrown in front of any third party and or independent who tries to challenge the two-party monopoly we have. We had been through all of that twice, 1992 and 1996. But then the Tea Party dropped their national debt mantra and became religious zealots and social conservatives. Regular hard-core Republicans. No different than the religious right. All kinship was lost. To us ex-reform party members they became just a foot note in a history book. I hadn’t thought of them in years.

Trumpism is just the latest metastasized version of revanchism within the Republican party, as the TEA party was, and the John Birch Society before that. Trump just took advantage and pushed the envelope in more worrisome directions, but there are relatively frequent eruptions of the cancer that plagues the party, and our country. That anyone ever believed the TEA party was anything other than the rebirth of John Birch, or that the Federalist Society ever represented a legitimate school of thought is beyond me. I recognized both as "propaganda for the denigration of American values" the moment they sprang from their astroturf roots, fertilized by the crap spewed by the Kochs, Mercers, and Adelsons. and their ilk.

Any real reform party will grow from the middle, out, based upon core constitutional values. The Democratic party contains more of those elements, at present, but that wasn't always the case and is unlikely to remain so. But, the likelihood of the GOP resetting itself into any semblance of its old form recedes daily.

Ultimately, if we survive the current turmoil, I think there will be a resurgence of the Democratic party and democratic ideals. The United States polity is like a gyroscope - it is most stable when it is spinning around the axis of our core Constitutional principles, but begins to wobble as it loses momentum and focus. We are in a period of extreme wobble. But, just as events can throw us off-kilter, so too events can impart momentum to get us back to spinning on a stable axis.

The invasion of Ukraine, the insurrection, and the demise of Roe have been significant events reminding us of the fragility of our democracy and democratic norms. It is my view that the GOP has revealed itself as anti-democratic and craven to its core. Demographics will inevitably lead to the demise of its current iteration (although the structure of our federal government makes rooting out the infection difficult), because it is decidedly a party at war with the liberal values of urban America, which is expanding its reach.

There's just SO much to agree with here!

I don't know where to start.

Demographics will inevitably lead to the demise of its current iteration (although the structure of our federal government makes rooting out the infection difficult), because it is decidedly a party at war with the liberal values of urban America, which is expanding its reach.

I honestly don't get the connection between rural America and the Republican Party.

Somebody has been hornswoggled.

Or perhaps more correctly, societal mores in rural populations are liable to be a few years out of date, and the more "hip" urban notions are seen as "woke" and out of step with society at large...bringing the stragglers along into a brave new world has always been the burden of the avant-garde.

Here is a good example of dishonest media.

As we know from this thread, Steve Bannon has been lying all along about Trump giving him Executive Privilege, Trump then gave Bannon permission to talk to the J6 Committee and that is why Bannon is now talking to J6, supposedly.

Trump's council is saying none of the above ever happened. Surprisingly, I believe Trump.

BUT, here's the issue: Breitbart titled their version of above as Steve Bannon offers to testify at January 6 Committee

Offers to testify?!? Bannon was subpoenaed! Bannon lied not to testify. THAT is not offering!

THIS is the problem...intellectual dishonesty in the media and why there is a 50/50 split of reality in this country.

It almost seems as if a lot of people regard The Federalist Society as some kind of legitimate part of the government...you know, like it's a government agency or something.
Of course, a lot of those same people also seem to regard The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) as an embedded part of the government, too.

You know..."ALEC writes our laws and the Federalist Society interprets them. That's just how it is."

Nobody seems to know what happened to the practice of ordinary citizens and their elected lawmakers writing legislation, just like no one seems to know why it's wrong to make the Federalists the MONOPOLY source for SCOTUS justices.
You know, this SAME group of people, many of whom are faithful Alex Jones listeners, seem to forget that Alex Jones used to rant and rave 24/7 about America's "secret societies".

Seems like ALEC and the Federalists are secret societies. No one has a direct line to communicate with them unless they too are in the inner circle, they don't get elected by anybody, they aren't accountable to anyone except for their donors, and they're always sticking their noses into literally EVERY aspect of American life, deciding FOR us how we should live them.
And they don't like anyone knowing what their calendar or long term agenda is, or where they're going to meet, or who their benefactors are. They prefer that most people don't even know of their existence at all.

Yep, sounds like a couple of secret societies to me.

---And we haven't even yet touched on The United States Chamber of Commerce!
No, they are NOT a secret society, but I'd wager $20.00 that a majority of Americans automatically assume they're part of the government, too.

I couldn't agree more. I think, having lived in rural America, urban America, and suburban America, there is a continuum of progress that you have correctly diagnosed.

Rural Americans like things to remain as they are, or think they do. But, they have no sensibility about how others feel about it. "That's how we've always done it" or "if it was good enough for my father, it's good enough for me" are constant refrains in those communities. Forget about thinking about how the needs in a city might be different than they are in rural communities. The mythology of rugged individualism runs very strong, and often for good reason. When I drove truck, the solution to any breakdown was to find a "good ol' boy" to fix it, because that self-sufficiency meant they knew how to jerry-rig just about anything into operation. Actual repairs, well, that's a different matter.

It's the red-blue divide, but written by population density. There are few States of the Union that don't have a liberal city center in their midst, and they are pretty consistently governed by a Democratic Mayor. Lincoln, Nebraska; Witchita, Kansas; Dallas and Houston, Texas; Memphis and Nashville, Tennessee; Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Kansas City and St. Louis, Missouri; Phoenix and Tucson, Arizona - even Boise, Idaho. Red America's cities are Blue.

As Millenials take over the Republican Party I think you'll start to see a softening in their hidebound stance. Red state Millenials are somewhat more urbane than their Boomer and Xer counterparts. More attuned to the real world, more interconnected than older generations ever were.

Everyone is dependent on the same systems remaining functional regardless of population density.

Au contraire. Millennials will make up the largest part of the Trumpies.
Has it been THAT long since you remember the passion AND the impetuousness of youth?
Richard Spencer is not an anomaly.

Tbagger Richard Spencer is no longer youthful - he's middle-aged now.

Millenials are nearing middle age. But the oldest of them resemble Xers more than Zoomers.

Boomers are still in complete control of everthing.

I suggest that much of that is due to the fact that most of those middle aged millennials like Spencer hitched their wagons to the most evil and corrupt Boomer to ever walk the earth.



Richard Spencer is a millennial, Marjorie Taylor-Greene is a millennial, Lauren Boebert is a millennial, Mitch McConnell is a Boomer and he's on Trump's shitte list. You also aren't going to find very many Boomers in the Oath Keepers, III%-ers and Proud Boys because they're too old.

I suggest millennials and X-ers aren't innocent victims in this.

Nobody has ever paid attention to us X'ers - and still don't. We're the invisible generation.

I thought I heard something...no...it was nothing...

You may be right, Jeffery, Early Millenials and that previous generation were indoctrinated much the same as late Boomers and are showing some of the same traits towards conservative entightlement.

It may not be until Zoomers are getting elected by Alphas before effective change comes about. I'm not holding my breath or hoping to see it in my lifetime ya know...maybe some XGen folks will...I don't know any of them...it was a small generation, a sort of a gestational shudder...