This is it precisely. The right has now fully embraced a dichotomy where
their myths become something we have to allow for and treat as if they were real. They are hollering "you guys have not released a single statement concerning the dread scourge of leprechauns!!!" while we stand around looking at each other like "these idiots are kidding, right?"
But by enough people believing in these things, they
do become "
real," in the sense of a thing being mutually recognizable, and having influence. Think of ideas as analogous to physical objects. Ideally, the analogous "physical laws" (mass, volume, velocity, momentum) of an idea would relate to its truth. But that's completely false -- all an idea needs to have impact is to be widely held. That was the brilliance of Roger Ailes (as another in a long line of propagandists) -- you can create a parallel ideascape and put your audience inside it, and that then becomes their reality. Then all you need to do is to replace the
standard people use to evaluate whether to accept a new idea. So, demonize gatekeepers and science (reason) itself, and replace "gut feeling," as of course reinforced and channeled by like-thinking personalities. You have now created a closed system and you have changed what is "true" or "false" for your audience. You don't "control" them -- they control themselves for you.
The bottom line:
they won. The precedent has now been set that lying constantly and about everything does not materially affect your chances of winning office.
