My Deplorable in-laws this morning: not the reaction I expected!

[deurbano]

62. I really don't know because the media markets in so many regions are dominated

by Fox and Sinclair and hate TV/radio. And it seems like when the left tries for balance (like Air America), we just don't have the same audience for that kind of content.

My mom was the constituent representative for a powerful Republican congressmen, and if we ever visited his office (which we tried to avoid), Fox was always playing in the waiting room, and my mom was listening to Limbaugh (or whatever crap was available) in her office as she worked. At home, she also has hate radio or hate TV on constantly in every room. I don't think most liberals/progressives/those-of-the-Democratic-persuasion choose to live like that-- constantly immersed in propaganda, even if coming from "our" side.

There is no critical thinking there. She just gets her "marching orders" from Hannity, Rush (etc.) and eventually falls in line. I mean, my mom started out saying Trump was just a joke with no chance whatsoever. Then she began to become anxious that he was being taken seriously, and she LOATHED him and said she would never vote for someone who mocked disabled people (etc.). I think she wrote in Kasich in the CA primary. But over time, constantly immersed in that filth, she even began to criticize her former idol, Romney, and anyone else who dared to express reservations about the Vulgar Talking Yam... and she ended up attending the inauguration!

I don't think it is so much about a problem with our messaging as it is the "cult bubble" you mention... and I know that my mom is impervious to reason. I used to try to counter the ridiculous email claims she would share with the actual facts from Snopes (or elsewhere), but it didn't matter. Maybe it was true that the only qualification of the "doctor" who diagnosed Obama as a narcissist was that he, himself, was a self-diagnosed narcissist, but that didn't matter because Obama was obviously narcissistic, anyway. Maybe it was true that the government phone program for low income people did not originate with Obama's administration, but in Cleveland, it was still a fact that Obama was giving out free phones in exchange for votes. Maybe other First Ladies (like Jackie Kennedy) wore sleeveless dresses to the State of the Union, too-- a fact-check I shared with her after she parroted the new "outrage of the day," which involved Ms. Obama's utter lack of respect for our sacred institutions by having the gall to expose her bare arms (and WHO wears a sleeveless dress in the winter, anyway, so not just disrespectful, but stupid) -- but Ms. Obama's sleeveless dresses were definitely more arm-revealing (or something, but it was really about the hue), so still disrespectful. (And now we have a First Lady who has actually bared her breasts as a model--and a First Daughter who is now trying to channel Jackie Kennedy, but previously seemed to be emulating Las Vegas showgirls--and from my mom.... crickets.)

They don't have the critical thinking skills that would allow "reason" to penetrate through this non-stop marination in such a toxic stew of hatred and lies. It's scary. I'm currently barely communicating with my mom, and I have ceased communicating with my sister, who also attended the inauguration (and was gung-ho about that creature from the start)... and who also trashed (on Facebook) the "snowflakes" at my alma mater (and my daughter's alma mater), Berkeley, in her zeal to defend that revolting, pedophile-loving, white supremacist who encountered protestors. Another example of their total lack of critical thinking skills: on Facebook, my sister enthusiastically shared an obviously photo-shopped photo of Taylor Swift with a MAGA hat. They have become complete idiots, totally gullible, able to be manipulated to any point of view.