Even if Trump loses, the madness won't end. The right *created* Trump. He was a Dem. Everything he knows about the right he learned from Fox News. He's a poor caricature of a republican but instead of rejecting him as a fraud, voters celebrate him. Why? (cont)

Bcuz lying is considered an expression of loyalty. A fake republican is fine as long as you're a loyal republican. When Fox News first arrived, GOP had an opportunity to hold it accountable to some standard of truth, but it didn't. Thus began a peer permission structure for lies.

Liberals had for years tried to advocate for bringing back the Fairness Doctrine, but truth is policing has to come from the right itself. Now it's too late. The right has built a permission, incentive and reward structure based on blatant disinformation…

and an information silo that shields itself from criticism and accountability. Their base been conditioned for decades to eat up this trash and they now have an insatiable appetite for it. What should've been beyond the pale like accusing someone of pedophilia is now routine.

There's no internal structure exists to push back against crazy lies. So it'll only get worse until reality catches up to them like a pandemic. And even after 200k+ dead there are still 30-40% who refuse to break with this bottom-feeding party that once was the party of Lincoln.

There's no reforming the GOP. It'll crumble suddenly one day when it pushes past the tipping point. Idk when that is and idt anyone knows either. But this is the point of no return. The fight over mask wearing and Section 230 tell us everything we need to know.

Instead of reforming, the right wants social media to carry water for them no matter how egregious and damaging to society it is. And they're willing to make anything a wedge issue even if it literally kills ppl. The cynicism and callousness is just mind-boggling.

It's insane that 30-40% of voters still stick with them. Part of it is cultural, part is negative partisanship. But the tipping point will come and it will come suddenly and swiftly.

And I look forward to a new rational, principled conservative party that rises from its ashes.

Addendum: it's not enough to combat lies with truth, when they have a culture that sees lies as an expression of loyalty. You have to chip away at their peer permission structure and reward mechanism. Or turn them against each other which destroys their only foundation: loyalty.

Final thoughts: the right sees their fight against the left as existential. They're fighting for their survival. Play accordingly.

Also, try your best to treat fellow GOP voters with kindness. Ppl can change. U don't have to win all of them, but just enough to make GOP unviable.

I should clarify that "the right" in this thread means the right-wing media machine and the party establishment/operstives, not the average GOP supporter.

Treat your fellow citizens with kindness and understanding, however you disagree with them.