Capitol Hill Blue Forums Thread Like Summary - As truth and reality fade, paranoia and conspiracy theories rise

As truth and reality fade, paranoia and conspiracy theories rise

Capital Hill Blue

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.