Democratic Primaries
In reply to the discussion: I was manipulated by the Russians, and we must assume everyone was. [View all]betsuni
(25,456 posts)Last edited Mon Apr 22, 2019, 02:15 AM - Edit history (1)
Members of my favorite online group (all women, most on Facebook, international) began posting articles from strange sites called TheRealTrueNewsHonestlyTrustMe.com or whatever, some genuine (about Monsanto, pink slime, health things) and some fake. Glenn Greenwald would write an article with a dramatic headline blaming Obama for some terrible government thing, but if you read the article the terrible thing happened two years before Obama became president. There was a definite shift toward anti-Americanism, pro-Russia.
I spent a lot of time debunking crap about Obama starting WWIII, illegal surveillance, empire building, drone warfare, that he couldn't read without a monitor and was an empty suit, Michelle going on million dollar vacations, the birther thing. I tried to convince them that the Bush and Obama administrations were different, how the Republican Party wasn't even a real political party anymore.
By 2015 I was tired of being a journalist for free. I thought that surely nobody could be more disrespected and lied about than Obama. Ha! The lust to hate Clinton was sick. When that started up I retired from the group, knew facts couldn't make a dent on those deranged conspiracy theories so many people lusted for. It fulfilled some sort of need. By 2016 the fake news was almost a parody of itself it was so obvious. I was grateful for the DU members who still lived in the fact-based world and that I still trust.
What I noticed about the worst affected (and looking at the list realize this is my mother):
Binary thinking. Everything is black or white. Good or evil. Hero or devil. Moral or immoral. Pure or corrupt.
Subjective and emotional, can't be objective.
Quick to blame others, always the victim. Assumes bad motivations to others (but will believe what a stranger on the Internet says and not someone they've known for years and should trust not to lie to them). Projects their own weaknesses onto others.
Literal thinkers, poor critical thinking/reading skills. Does not listen. Communicates mostly with logical fallacies.
Pessimistic, negative, angry. Always have a personal insult. Thinks they are smarter than everybody else.
Likes labels, slogans. Assigns new meanings to words.
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden