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Paul Krugman is right that it goes way back. I immediately thought of Ronald Reagan saying "Facts are stupid things." And from there, ending up with Trump's "alternative facts." But the strangest thing is how Trump will go on repeating untrue things even after he's been told it's wrong.
When did Republicans start hating facts?
This rejection of science partly reflected deference to special interests that didn’t want science-based regulation. Even more important, however, was the influence of the religious right, which first became a major political force under Reagan, has become ever more central to the Republican coalition and is now a major driver of the party’s rejection of facts — and democracy.
For rejecting facts comes naturally to people who insist that they’re acting on behalf of God. So does refusing to accept election results that don’t go their way. After all, if liberals are servants of Satan trying to destroy America’s soul, they shouldn’t be allowed to exercise power even if they should happen to win more votes.
Sure enough, a few days ago televangelist Pat Robertson — who first became politically influential under Reagan — pronounced the Texas lawsuit a “miracle,” an intervention by God that would keep Trump in office. https://www.sltrib.com/opinion/comme...gman-when-did/
Paul Krugman is right that it goes way back. I immediately thought of Ronald Reagan saying "Facts are stupid things." And from there, ending up with Trump's "alternative facts." But the strangest thing is how Trump will go on repeating untrue things even after he's been told it's wrong.
When did Republicans start hating facts?
This rejection of science partly reflected deference to special interests that didn’t want science-based regulation. Even more important, however, was the influence of the religious right, which first became a major political force under Reagan, has become ever more central to the Republican coalition and is now a major driver of the party’s rejection of facts — and democracy.
For rejecting facts comes naturally to people who insist that they’re acting on behalf of God. So does refusing to accept election results that don’t go their way. After all, if liberals are servants of Satan trying to destroy America’s soul, they shouldn’t be allowed to exercise power even if they should happen to win more votes.
Sure enough, a few days ago televangelist Pat Robertson — who first became politically influential under Reagan — pronounced the Texas lawsuit a “miracle,” an intervention by God that would keep Trump in office. https://www.sltrib.com/opinion/comme...gman-when-did/
Paul Krugman is right that it goes way back. I immediately thought of Ronald Reagan saying "Facts are stupid things." And from there, ending up with Trump's "alternative facts." But the strangest thing is how Trump will go on repeating untrue things even after he's been told it's wrong.
When did Republicans start hating facts?
This rejection of science partly reflected deference to special interests that didn’t want science-based regulation. Even more important, however, was the influence of the religious right, which first became a major political force under Reagan, has become ever more central to the Republican coalition and is now a major driver of the party’s rejection of facts — and democracy.
For rejecting facts comes naturally to people who insist that they’re acting on behalf of God. So does refusing to accept election results that don’t go their way. After all, if liberals are servants of Satan trying to destroy America’s soul, they shouldn’t be allowed to exercise power even if they should happen to win more votes.
Sure enough, a few days ago televangelist Pat Robertson — who first became politically influential under Reagan — pronounced the Texas lawsuit a “miracle,” an intervention by God that would keep Trump in office. https://www.sltrib.com/opinion/comme...gman-when-did/
Good article. Although Pat Robertson has since said that Trump is living in an "alternate reality" and the republicans don't need the "sideshow" of Trump running again in 2024.
The difference now, under Trumpism, is the purging and silencing in the realm of the GOP or broader conservatism of anyone with a perception or a message of the truth. They may have once put a spin on it or rationalized it in a way that made it somewhat palatable to Republicans but they accepted that there was a truth to be reckoned with. Today there is no truth, only the myth and lies. That is the same with most science but the GOP has parted ways with science and education.
There are a few emerging voices in the GOP that seem to be facing reality but not much.
The difference now, under Trumpism, is the purging and silencing in the realm of the GOP or broader conservatism of anyone with a perception or a message of the truth. They may have once put a spin on it or rationalized it in a way that made it somewhat palatable to Republicans but they accepted that there was a truth to be reckoned with. Today there is no truth, only the myth and lies. That is the same with most science but the GOP has parted ways with science and education.
There are a few emerging voices in the GOP that seem to be facing reality but not much.
Core policies of the Republican party (the actual priorities of the super-rich donor class) are basically unpalatable to most Americans once they understand them. So the party can not run on it's actual policies.
The facts about the world today are an uncomfortable reality for vested interests. Some product causes cancer? Banning the product is unthinkable to the company which sells it, so a disinformation campaign must be launched. It's the same with Republican politics.
The Republican Party will run on wedge issues, each one peeling a small percentage of people away from their own best interests. It takes a lot of wedge issues to cover the tracks of the Republican Party.
Sometimes the wedge issue is not enough, and they need to build it up with exaggerations and extreme lies. Sometimes they need to make up entirely new complaints to scare the people with. So that's what they do.
The Truth gets lost in all of that. The Truth can not break through.
Why do people try to relate pre-Trump republicans to the Trump era? Liberals infiltrated the republican party and got their liberal candidate, Trump on the ticket.
They're not the traditional republican party that leans conservative. Not even close.
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