The instinct for many is to assume a basic level of competence among Republicans. But that flies in the face of evidence. Remember: They are pledging undying loyalty to the guy who lost them the House, Senate and White House. Their dastardly plots, as infuriating as they might be, are not necessarily working in their favor. Just because, for example, they are creating barriers to voting does not mean that they will improve their chances in 2022. The opposite might be true.
Which is, generally, a notion concerning the GOP I’ve been pushing for years. Rigid ideologues, who are people whose understanding of reality is fragmentary, are often at the mercy of their very beliefs concerning reality and, for that matter, unreality. So long as their voters share these mis-beliefs, if you will, they can win reelection.
But once those voters discover that reality differs greatly from what their favorite politicians proclaim, well, favorite can change to discarded quickly. Preventing that is the purpose of propaganda, but propaganda can only go so far, as the Soviets discovered decades ago.
The Soviets are no more; they are utterly gone. Today’s Republicans may discover the same fate awaits them, if they cannot return to a fealty to truth.
