This topic has been slipping through my grasp since Kelly Anne the Clown said it, and yes I said clown but not because I mean it with hate or spite, no it is because she is straight up clowning or needs to be drug tested. But seriously we should all be proud of Kelly Anne for finally admitting that there are Republicans who believe and operate from a perspective that you can have alternative facts. It really explains a lot about conservatism in general and why there are people who wholeheartedly believe the way they do.
Here is a list of just a few things that work if you use alternative facts:
Climate Change denial
Denial of systemic racism
Belief that the USA is a Christian promise land
Denying the deist beliefs of the founding fathers
That we found WMDs in Iraq
That Al Qaeda was in Iraq
That it is the fault of minorities or illegal aliens or NAFTA that they do not have good jobs.
That the same business people who shipped jobs overseas for their own profit, can and will bring them back with good wages.
That President Obama wasn’t born in America.
That President Obama created the entire mess in the Middle East.
That Black Lives Matter is a terrorist organization that wants more than just the same seat at the table as white people.
That the Republican party of today is the same as it was when Lincoln was president, and that the Democratic Party is the same as they were before the two swapped sides during the Civil Rights movement.
That Republicans didn’t protest after President Obama got elected. What else would you call the tea party, the oath keepers, and probably the largest gun and ammo buying spree in history, but protest?
It is easy to keep going, heartbreakingly easy. What worries me the most is the question, how do you work, having meaningful dialog, and reach compromise with people who believe that facts can be so arbitrary and capricious? Between alternative facts, goal posts that keep moving, and republican religious zealotry that prevents compromise, I question whether we can ever heal the divide. I wonder if the Republic has reached the end of its lifespan.
I know trying times are nothing new, but I have a family and friends I love deeply and must be pragmatic in how I consider what tomorrow brings and how I will react.