WHIRLPOOL OF DECEIT: BECK AND LIMBAUGH

An unconventional subgroup exists in our society. It is not new. What is new is that social media and technical innovations in communication put the unique beliefs of this group continuously in our face—24/7, which makes them appear to be common knowledge; hence, acceptable. They are not. They all seem to be right wing politically. I am sure they exist, but I have never met a single liberal conspiracy theorist.

For example, “Obama is coming to take your guns.” There is never any discussion of how he would do this. It is such a ridiculous idea that reasonable people dismiss it as empty rhetoric. Something no one believes but say for its emotional impact. Or, there was some conspiracy associated with the assignation of JFK. There is never discussion of how the conspirator would benefit from killing a president or any evidence that any one has benefitted from that tragedy. I could go through fluoridation of water, GMO seeds, Obama was born in Kenya, Secretary of State Clinton planned the Benghazi embassy attack, Syria rebels made the gas attacks, Obama designed the Affordable Health Care Act to destroy America, or Social Security is a drain on American taxpayers. There is a never-ending list. No one proves any of these things because they are creations of the fanciful mind of the leaders of this group. They are like science fiction in as much as the tellers base them on distorted facts some of which are so badly distorted that the consumers do not recognizable them as facts.

An important element is that this group sincerely believes the stories. The first impulse is to think people in the group are somehow mentally compromised but they are not. There are some intelligent people are involved. Rush Limbaugh, Bill O’Reily, and Glen Beck for example are smart enough to be making millions of dollars by telling these stories. I believe they believe the lies they tell. They are very articulate even if what they are saying does not make sense. For example, they carefully explain how gun registration will help Obama come and get your guns. It is true that if they register their guns the government will know who has guns. Gun manufacturers pay them big money to say these crazy things. The first impulse is to say that the people listen to and believe them are stupid; they are not. They function very well in everyday society: have jobs, run businesses, write articles, and communicate with friends—normal people except for this one thing.

I thought that they, like their leaders, had a political motive but that does not seem to be true. I cannot find a single socially redeeming quality for any of their positions—not one. While it seems to be true the leaders have either an economic motive, political reason, or both, it does not explain why their followers, for example a working person who cannot possible gain anything and perhaps will even lose friends and customers, other than fellow adherents, can sincerely believe such ridiculous outlandish things.

Observers sometimes try to explain why they believe as they do by saying they subject themselves to continuous reinforcement. They never read a liberal paper or listen to a liberal radio or TV station. If the only thing they read and hear agrees that Obama is coming to get their guns, even if they do not have guns, they believe it, which I find remarkable. Eventually, they will reject anything and everything opposed to what they believe. They become impervious to logic. The birther issue is a case in point. No matter what the evidence, they reject it. The implication of the belief is that black persons cannot be an American. There is no way they can tear themselves out to the viscous circle —a whirlpool of deceit—in which they find themselves; they only go deeper and deeper. 

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