Right-wingers who claim that Democratic voters are "brainwashed": Project much?

[YoungDemCA]

Time after time, I hear right-wingers say-in one way or another-hat people who vote Democratic are "brainwashed" by the "liberal elite" who supposedly control the media, the public schools and universities, and every other part of the "culture of political correctness."

Exhibit A: African-Americans and other racial and ethnic minorities vote overwhelmingly Democratic. But there's nothing wrong with the Republican message (!), so there must be another explanation for why they vote Democratic. Enter the liberal elite, who supposedly brainwashes non-whites into voting for those Godless, anti-American, insufferably snobby elitist big-government liberals. A

Exhibit B: The Republican Party has a big problem with women, particularly unmarried women and women of color. Yet it couldn't possibly be a problem with Republican policies that alienates women from the GOP, so it must be something else. Again, the fault is with liberals-or with women, even, who are too stupid (apparently) to know what's good for them. Most right-wingers don't explicitly say that, but that is the subtext in their attempts to externalize blame.

The Right-wingers blame everything, from the "culture of dependency" in the "inner cities" to liberal elites undermining the "work ethic" and "personal responsibility", to people just wanting "goodies" from "the nanny state". Everything, and everyone, but themselves. The closest they come to admitting any responsibility on their part for why so many people-of all different backgrounds and demographics, but some disproportionately more than others-are becoming increasingly disgusted with the Republican Party and all of its associated "movements" (Tea Party, the NRA, the Religious Right, etc.) is that they have a "messaging" or "image" problem. Well no shit, Sherlock: if you message stinks, then you will be in trouble among much of the population.

This brings me to the title of this thread: If anyone is truly "brainwashed" in American politics, its the Republican voter base, the primary electorate, and the grassroots right-wing activists. They are not merely uniformed, they are woefully and alarmingly misinformed. And they vote, sadly. My late grandfather, may he rest in peace, was one of them, a Tea Partier/neo-Bircher to the core. It was damn near impossible to talk to him about politics, since he would just get really angry at Obama's comments about "spreading around the wealth" or how Obama "is a radical and a liar!" or how anyone who votes for the Democratic Party is either stupid, confused, or brainwashed. Yet here was a man whose contribution to political discussions was parroting FOX News and Rush Limbaugh talking points. As one of my family friends said, 'Your grandfather is someone who has really drunk the Kool-Aid of right-wing views."

I tend to think, therefore, that right-wing, Republican voters are masters of psychological projection, externalization of blame ("It's those other people who are brainwashed, but not me!&quot , and hypocrisy. It would be hilarious, if there weren't real-world implications for what they believe and how they vote.