Exchange grate
by digby
Listening to the Republicans lie outrageously on the Sunday shows about the catastrophic effects of a program that isn’t even in effect (while denying that climate change exists!) is enough to give me a headache. It reminded me of this:
Rick Perlstein wrote a fascinating article for The Daily Beast about what he calls out “mendocracy” — which means a society ruled by liars. He discusses the fact that most Americans believe that Obama raised their taxes when he actually lowered them and uses Limbaugh’s admonition to his audience that Obama always means exactly the opposite of what he says as an example of how that kind of thing comes to pass.
(a) A mountebank teaches his millions of followers that everything the president says is a priori a lie;
b) The mainstream media that acts as if anything his millions of followers believe is a priori deserving of respect as heartland folk wisdom (note the cover article lionizing Limbaugh in this week’s Newsweek);
(c) The president unilaterally renders himself constitutionally incapable of breaking the chain between (a) and (b), such that, (d), the assumption that Obama raised taxes when he really lowered them becomes hegemonic for a majority of the electorate, and even a large plurality of Democrats.
Q.E.D.: Governing has become impossible.
Nothing beats this nonsense about the ACA already causing millions of people to suffer and die when it hasn’t even started — which is why they have to stop it. It’s so daft, it’s hard for me to believe they can say this without their heads exploding. But they’re all doing it. The morning talk show round tables were simply incomprehensible as a result.
We’re so screwed.
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