= new reply since forum marked as read
I read that John Mellencamp told that to an old friend of his years ago 
I would say, just from longtime observation, that many of these on the "other side" have NO sense of humor, and don't spend much time either reading a lot, keeping up with the issues, or any sort of objective, critical thinking. They're used to having it all fed to them - the sloganeering, the bumper-sticker phrases that are dumbed down or catchy enough to stick in the mind (no effort needed!), and the constant repetition from Pox Noise, limbaugh & clones, and Alex Jones.
I actually heard limbaugh announce to his audience "you don't even have to think! I'LL do the thinking FOR you!" And I think that was exactly the kind of validation and reassurance these folks were starving for. No muss-no fuss! They wouldn't have to lift a finger or think anything over or try to come up with any of their own ideas, so all they had to do was sit on their duffs and open wide, and it would be hand-delivered and shoveled in for them to swallow without even thinking. That bunch has now been pre-conditioned and, yep, BRAINWASHED since that creep and all his little Pox pals started in, I think, the 90s. After you spend some time in that echo chamber, avoiding most or all of even the mildest rebuttal, what do you expect they're gonna think? It's been repeated and reinforced, and rewarded ("He's TELLIN' it like it IS!"
by hearing parroted back to them what they themselves have been thinking but were afraid to stick their own necks out.
When you have a big ol' famous successful and rich mouthpiece saying this stuff over and over again that you've been thinking, that is some amazing and POWERFUL validation. You feel like YOU'VE arrived! Like YOU won. Like YOU were right - and right, all along. So just sit back and relax - they'll say it FOR you! And you can just let your own critical thinking atrophy, since you clearly don't need it anymore. It's being taken care of - FOR you.
So when somebody like you comes along with a creative and cutting (and well-informed) retort, LaydeeBug, their MAYBE once-nimble minds are atrophied. And you nail 'em. And they have no good or effective comeback. They probably don't respond with something equally clever - because, by now, they CAN'T.
