# The years of brain washing by the right paid off **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [November 23, 2024, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-years-of-brain-washing-by-the-right-paid-off/1010667 "2024-11-23T14:02:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2024, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-years-of-brain-washing-by-the-right-paid-off/1010667/81 "2024-11-25T20:58:57Z")
There’s still the “where the rubber meets the highway” maxim that applies. When they promise to make America great again but can’t even make eggs affordable again, things will slip. And the autocracy only works against them: top-down, big pie chart wedges results-only systems are notoriously bad at this: Chernobyl, Wuhan, etc. I really don’t see Donald Trump wonking out on the nitty gritty of avian viral pathology. And unlike what he hoped could be brushed aside as just a few seasonal deaths mainly in nursing homes and homeless shelters during Covid, every refrigerator has eggs. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2024, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-years-of-brain-washing-by-the-right-paid-off/1010667/82 "2024-11-25T21:05:27Z")
Right-wing media will no longer worry about inflation at all, just like they don’t worry about deficits when there’s a Republican in the WH. So, for anyone consuming that media, inflation will just have gone away – must be all better now! Normal media will run a few stories about how inflation remains low (which it is right now, of course), assuming it does so in the face of larger deficits and tariffs. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2024, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-years-of-brain-washing-by-the-right-paid-off/1010667/83 "2024-11-25T21:12:55Z")
Fox et. al will certainly perform such omissions, or go on the offensive to somehow blame it on drag shows. But somehow I recall hamburger going from fifty five cents a pound to over ninety in 1973, a very hungry year for my family, and Nixon’s approval dropping below 30 percent. Everyone in our bubble thought Watergate was just some WA DC musical chairs. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2024, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-years-of-brain-washing-by-the-right-paid-off/1010667/84 "2024-11-25T21:14:36Z")
Maybe you should sit down for this, but the media have changed a lot since the Nixon era. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2024, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-years-of-brain-washing-by-the-right-paid-off/1010667/85 "2024-11-25T21:34:59Z")
> [@RitterSport](#): > > Right-wing media will no longer worry about inflation at all, just like they don’t worry about deficits when there’s a Republican in the WH. So, for anyone consuming that media, inflation will just have gone away – must be all better now! This, of course. Trump’s voters will never question it, even as they’re paying more for the same bag of groceries. Must be Demoncrats running those food companies! If the price of eggs gets high enough so that FoxNews happy-talk isn’t enough to drive it out of people’s minds, the Trump Admin will simply threaten those running the corporations that sell us groceries. Drop the price of eggs NOW or be audited! They will drop the price of eggs (and raise the price of something less meme-worthy, to make up the difference). > [@RitterSport](#): > > Maybe you should sit down for this, but the media have changed a lot since the Nixon era. Yeah. There wasn’t really a way for Nixon to escape being blamed for the rising prices; everyone watched/read/listened to the same news sources, for the most part. Today, so long as FoxNews and Sinclair decide to hold the line against reporting bad things happening post-January 20, millions of Americans won’t know that the bad things are happening. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2024, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-years-of-brain-washing-by-the-right-paid-off/1010667/86 "2024-11-26T01:53:47Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > Well what are you suggesting for an answer? Better information? The whole point of this thread is that better information was available and a large percentage of Americans chose not to avail themselves of it. At that point I don’t see what else is left to propose except to ban sources of information you consider illegitimate. They have to play the game better. The Republicans saw the way to people’s hearts was through social media and the new sort of social media influencer. Musk, Rogan and Kennedy got voters to the polls. Taylor Swift didn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Ash\_trav511](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/edb3f5/32.png) [@Ash\_trav511](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ash_trav511)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2024, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-years-of-brain-washing-by-the-right-paid-off/1010667/87 "2024-11-26T04:12:06Z")
Where is america going ? I am reading this now about Walmart 😰 “No more HRC surveys, Pride funding under review, DEI term discontinued, and LatinX banned from communications” ---
**Author:** ![Ash\_trav511](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/edb3f5/32.png) [@Ash\_trav511](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ash_trav511)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2024, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-years-of-brain-washing-by-the-right-paid-off/1010667/88 "2024-11-26T04:13:17Z")
I will not read news for a few months…too much for me to take ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2024, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-years-of-brain-washing-by-the-right-paid-off/1010667/89 "2024-11-26T13:26:53Z")
> [@Kropotkin](#): > > oversimplified example: “So you say you want a raise, Bob. Why aren’t you making enough money?” “Those damn “fill in the blank” are taking our good jobs by working for less money! We should stop immigration!” “What about working together to get higher wages for all of us? Would that help? How could we do that? A few of us are meeting after work to talk about it. I think you should come.” Bob doesn’t want higher wages for “all of us”. He already told you how he feels about “those people”. The wealth that he most wants to preserve is the social capital that comes from being superior to “those people”. This is something he can hold onto through good times and bad. This is why, although I think poor information and poor persuasion are factors, these will never land effectively without addressing why people deliberately seek out misinformation: because they want confirmation of what they already believe. People will of course prioritize their immediate material interests if that’s on the ballot, but more than that, they will prioritize the validation of their prior belief systems if that seems to promise a more beneficial order over the long term. Getting them to replace that belief system with another one is _hard_, especially if that change pulls them away from others in their social circle. ---
**Author:** ![OldOlds](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a3d4f5/32.png) [@OldOlds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldOlds)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2024, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-years-of-brain-washing-by-the-right-paid-off/1010667/90 "2024-11-26T13:56:17Z")
> [@Ash\_trav511](#): > > and LatinX banned from communications” To be fair, “LatinX” has always been incredibly stupid. Here on the local NPR station, after the election I heard one of the programs talking to a Latino from Lawrence MA about how much they’d shifted towards Trump. The host kept saying “LatinX” but the interviewee, a Latino, kept calling them “Latino.” I found that telling. ---
**Author:** ![Ash\_trav511](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/edb3f5/32.png) [@Ash\_trav511](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ash_trav511)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2024, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-years-of-brain-washing-by-the-right-paid-off/1010667/91 "2024-11-26T14:06:06Z")
I think if the majority of Latin Americans find the word LatinX offensive/condescending or stupid… it’s better if the democrats/liberal media stop using the word LatinX and start using Latino all the time. ---
**Author:** ![veryfrank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/87869e/32.png) [@veryfrank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/veryfrank)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2024, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-years-of-brain-washing-by-the-right-paid-off/1010667/92 "2024-11-26T14:08:07Z")
> [@DavidNRockies](#): > > Actually, it’s worse than that. Tucker Carlson tried to get a Fox News reporter, Jacqui Heinrich, _fired_ simply for fact-checking Donald Trump. I remember Trump screeching at a rally that “fact checking is censorship!” because I guess pointing out when he spreads untruths infringes on his free speech rights to lie his ass off. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2024, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-years-of-brain-washing-by-the-right-paid-off/1010667/93 "2024-11-26T14:18:32Z")
Maybe Latin or Hispanic is better? What do you call someone whose gender isn’t known to you or who doesn’t have a distinct or consistent gender? ---
**Author:** ![survinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cab0a1/32.png) [@survinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/survinga)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2024, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-years-of-brain-washing-by-the-right-paid-off/1010667/94 "2024-11-26T14:38:00Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > I hate the term “brainwashing”; it implies that one can guarantee being able to make people think the way you want them to. If brainwashing in that sense is real, then we might as well abolish democracy because the Great Unwashed are too stupid to be trusted with a vote. Or at least be able to ban dissemination of “lies and slander”, just like the Soviet Union did. OK, how would you label the \>50% of Republican voters who think the 2020 election was stolen? They were sold an obvious pack of lies, and believed it. What are we supposed to call them? What about the non-negligible % of Republicans who think the Covid vaccine was more dangerous than the Covid virus, and decided not to take the shots, costing about 300K lives? There are dozens more examples of obvious nonsense on the right. So, we won’t call them “brainwashed”. What should we call them? ---
**Author:** ![survinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cab0a1/32.png) [@survinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/survinga)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2024, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-years-of-brain-washing-by-the-right-paid-off/1010667/95 "2024-11-26T14:40:14Z")
> [@veryfrank](#): > > I remember Trump screeching at a rally that “fact checking is censorship!” because I guess pointing out when he spreads untruths infringes on his free speech rights to lie his ass off. Yes, part of the right-wing playbook is to attack fact-checkers themselves, and turn them into some sort of bolshevik conspiracy. The enemy of authoritarians is truth itself, so it must be stamped out along with the people who try to speak the truth. ---
**Author:** ![OldOlds](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a3d4f5/32.png) [@OldOlds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldOlds)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2024, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-years-of-brain-washing-by-the-right-paid-off/1010667/96 "2024-11-26T15:34:55Z")
First, that assumes it’s a problem that needs solving. I’m not saying it isn’t, but, well, is it? Second, if we really needed that, just plain Latin would work. It’s not like there would be any confusion that you meant Pedro was from ancient Rome. Third, I thought we were supposed to let people decide what they should be called, so if they don’t like it, we shouldn’t use it (I recall, however, a big debate right here because some people don’t like being called cis gender; I guess not everyone is afforded that luxury) ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2024, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-years-of-brain-washing-by-the-right-paid-off/1010667/97 "2024-11-26T15:40:24Z")
> [@OldOlds](#): > > Second, if we really needed that, just plain Latin would work. Yes, I suggested that, or Hispanic. The problem that needs solving for me is, what’s the right term for someone whose gender is unknown by me? Or, whose gender varies or someone who is enby? What term do Hispanic non-binary people prefer? ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2024, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-years-of-brain-washing-by-the-right-paid-off/1010667/98 "2024-11-26T15:54:50Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > The only problem is that who gets to make the call? Every single instance we have back to antiquity of a group or class being entrusted as the official arbitrators of truth has a very, very bad track record. As a theoretical test case … do you have any evidence that shows that websites like **[Snopes](https://www.snopes.com/)**, [**PolitiFact**](https://www.politifact.com/), or any of the fact-checking resources listed [**here**](https://library.csi.cuny.edu/misinformation/fact-checking-websites) have a poor track record for accuracy and fairness? ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2024, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-years-of-brain-washing-by-the-right-paid-off/1010667/99 "2024-11-26T15:56:06Z")
> [@HMS\_Irruncible](#): > > Conservatives: “You guys and your facts. Who are you to say what the facts are. Who even knows what a fact is. I don’t need facts to tell me what my gut knows is true.” That is almost verbatim what a FOAF MAGA has told me several times when presented with facts and figures that proved him wrong. ---
**Author:** ![74westy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/74westy/32/3950_2.png) [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2024, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-years-of-brain-washing-by-the-right-paid-off/1010667/100 "2024-11-26T16:19:21Z")
> [@HMS\_Irruncible](#): > > Conservatives: “You guys and your facts. Who are you to say what the facts are. Who even knows what a fact is. I don’t need facts to tell me what my gut knows is true.” > [@Stephen Colbert-White House Correspondents’ Dinner 2006](#): > > That’s where the truth lies, right down here in the gut. Do you know you have more nerve endings in your gut than you have in your head? You can look it up. Now, I know some of you are going to say, ‘I did look it up, and that’s not true.’ That’s ’cause you looked it up in a book. Next time, look it up in your gut. I did. My gut tells me that’s how our nervous system works. … [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-years-of-brain-washing-by-the-right-paid-off/1010667.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-years-of-brain-washing-by-the-right-paid-off/1010667.md?page=6)