Thought of the moment...do you ever notice that, instead of a substantive debate with real solutions, the right's most recent responses to just about everything is denial?
There is no one in America who lacks insurance or ready access to healthcare (remember that this was, essentially, the point that Mitt Romney -- the GOP 2012 nominee, and the grandfather of the ACA -- ran on in regards to healthcare. It was never an issue, everyone had it, Obama's a tyrant: vote Republican.)
There is no racism in America. If many African Americans are in poverty, incarcerated at much higher rates/stiffer sentences for the same crimes as others, etc., it's clearly their fault.
There is no sexism in America. If anything, women have waged war on men.
There is no pay gap. At least, not one that women don't want/cause/really need.
There is no anti-gay hostility in America. (Now excuse me while I try to make it legal for businesses to discriminate against gay people, landlords refuse to rent to them, etc.; all in Christian love and charity, of course!)
There is no reason for a woman to get an abortion, ever. Women's bodies shut down rape pregnancies. Medical reasons, schmedical reasons. And otherwise, put an aspirin between your knees, you whore!
There is no evidence of global warming. (And I'll tell you why, once I'm evac-ed to safety from the flooded shell of my home).
There is no evidence that the world is more than a few thousand years old (because, you know, we have this book...).
There's no need to raise minimum wage -- that was only intended to be a stepping stone/teenager-level pay anyway. (Just ignore FDR on the topic...)
There is no evidence of negative environmental impact from fracking, etc. Earthquakes happen. In brand new places with no apparent reason why. Because it's not fracking related, okay?
And when they're not busily denying reality, they're making really bad arguments, believing contradictory things simultaneously, and applying wildly different standards between groups. These arguments are generally at odds with logic, and reality too. Like:
There's rampant election fraud & impersonation. Okay, no, we can't provide a single example. But it's an incredible problem that must be solved immediately, even if it does impede a few hundred thousand legal voters. Because, you know, this is a big one.
Only when everyone is armed will we be safe from mass shootings (despite the fact that in life-and-death situations, in general even trained professionals demonstrate abysmal rates of success -- nevermind your average untrained hero-wannabee who does not regularly encounter life threatening danger...)
Thus we need guns everywhere, in churches, libraries, and workplaces. Except the places where those making these laws work.
Stand your ground is a great, life-saving law. But we want to seal all records related to it, because it's so life-saving-and-amazing thatno one has the right to know anything about whose killing who for what reason.
The freedom to bear arms is enshrined in the constitution, so it cannot in
any way be infringed. Which is why we want to limit our free press (see
above).
More Americans dead-via-bullet since 1968 than in all American wars combined is just the price of freedom. Those lost lives are collateral damage. The vastly, vastly, VASTLY smaller number of people who die in gun-free zones are compelling evidence that we need everyone armed, everywhere, because there's a small chance that an armed person might have saved lives in that scenario (any chance that they might have added to the bloodshed will be duly ignored).
The right to bear arms is inviolable; no consideration can infringe upon it. A person's right to life, necessarily, is not as set-in-stone as someone's right to an assault rifle, when they come into conflict.
Inner city men are lazy bums who don't play by the same rules as the rest of us. They're the thugs, moochers, and takers tanking the economy. But old white guys who owe We the People millions are the patriotic folk heroes who are going to save us all -- all the more so when their supporters are training rifles on law enforcement and threatening revolution. You know, because, they love America so much, they want to destroy it!
Gay people are hateful bullies because they won't let me bully them. Anymore.
The twice-elected American president is an American-hating dictator. Democratically elected. Twice.
We're the champions of the constitution, protecting it from the dictates of scary liberals and said un-American president. Which is why we want to sh*t all over that constitution, and implement religious tests and religious law (which it strictly protects against).
I demand my constitutional rights! Oh, and I don't recognize the government whose constitution I'm citing.
Republicans seem to have figured out that, since they can no longer openly embrace discriminatory and/or dangerous policy, actions, or beliefs that they favor, it's best to deny that they exist at all. It's no longer okay to embrace racism; so rather than declaring that god made the races separate, damn it!, simply insist that there's no inequality or racism at play. "If such-and-such number of African Americans refuse to pull themselves up by their bootstraps, why should I be responsible?!" It's no longer okay to say that women should, on principle, be paid less than men (unless you're Phyllis Schlafley, apparently). Now, one must consider that women really don't negotiate as well as men, do they? Clearly, their priorities are different: women just don't care about money as much as men do. It's not okay to say that gay people should be harmed and killed. On the other hand, there's simply no reason to protect them
from being beaten or killed, either, because who would do such a thing? I mean, what kind of maniac would harm another human being?! Clearly, a preposterous and unnecessary protection. (On a separate note, we need everyone in every school packing heat, because, omg, there's maniacs lurking around every corner, and we need to keep our babies safe!!) It's not okay to say that you think the sick poor should just have the decency to die already, damn it; that the water, air and earth near average Americans should be poisoned, polluted and destroyed for the benefit of the privileged; that the working poor should enjoy devoting their lives to a job that doesn't pay enough to live; that you don't give a damn what science suggests, if it contradicts what your preacher man tells you. One simply denies that these issues exist. The sick never die because of lack of healthcare (I mean, emergency rooms, right?); fracking and drilling are absolutely clean and it's only those crazy tree-huggers who tell you otherwise; the poor aren't poor, they're lazy -- and
they even have refrigerators, the bastards!
I suppose this is at least partially a result of the Fox News/Rush Limbaugh/Glenn Beck/Sean Hannity-sphere they've ensconced themselves in: reality, if it contradicts the narrative, is no longer welcome. Just like they've created their own media outlets, they've created their own "realities". Except, their realities are pipe dreams, fantasies and nonsense. And the scariest part of it all is -- when their pipe dreams do become reality, we all stand to suffer.
Originally posted at Rachel's Hobbit Hole