This is where awareness of confirmation bias must play into how one reads a post, as DoctorBeast68 on Daily Kos writes about the aftermath of the Presidential debate of last Thursday:
Amid all the handwringing and gnashing of teeth, something remarkable is happening in this country this week. While the MSM [Main street media, aka traditional media sources] all but coronated Trump following CNN’s televised Trump rally (aka “the debate”), their narrative is rapidly falling apart and they have no idea how to handle it. Post debate polls show Biden GAINING support while TFG is dropping. There are reports that Trump is furious over these post debate polls. Could it be that 90 minutes of deranged hyperbolic ugliness and utter nonsense spewed by Trump actually reminded Americans why we came to despise this convicted felon four years ago?
Written in typical Daily Kos patois, it’s a red flag that this sort of thing should be verified by the reader. But no links are provided to relevant polls. Now, I can believe what the writer is saying, and readers shouldn’t be surprised, given what I said Friday. But I’m wary.
And, yes, I know links may be provided in comments. I’ve read Daily Kos comments, though, and they generally just irritate me. And then I wonder how many are written by saboteurs and infiltrators.
But it’s telling that Erick Erickson doesn’t lead off his latest column with an attack on Biden concerning the debate. Oh, he gets to it, eventually, but the lead-off is basically him telling his fellow conservatives to … give up the self-delusion schtick:
Here’s my frustration with the state of conservative media and online punditry. You can conjure the most outlandish theories and never have to say you’re sorry. And you can conjure those theories while connecting dots to lead you out of the theory you know isn’t true and everyone just shrugs. And it is far easier to go with the herd than say what you know to be true.
I knew CNN would do a fine debate. Tapper and Bash are professionals. There was no delay in the feed. They were not going to edit Joe Biden both because they would not and it would be technically impossible while also distributing a live feed to other networks. But much of the conservative online space wanted to believe. It was far easier to attack CNN pre-emptively than say the truth. And even now, there’ll be those who defensively insist telling the truth was wrong, a lie, or only a lucky guess.
When truth and honesty are no longer the currency of the conservatives, this is what you’re going to see. This is why I don’t go to web sites with a reputation for conservatism very often, because whether it’s Alex Jones or Sean Hannity or Tucker Carlson, I know they will put no value on honest evaluations.
For all I know, Erickson may be the exception to the rule, but, in addition to often simply being wrong, he’ll nastily stretch a point. In this case, as with many others that I’ve noticed, he’s trying to keep the herd together by smearing various Democrats and, of course, President Biden:
But beyond everything above, if Biden leaves office where does he go? Does he go home to his two drug-addicted children with a dog that bites while his wife resents him for giving up the presidency? Biden would be sitting at home on election night watching a historically unpopular Kamala Harris lose every traditional swing state and put places like Virginia, Minnesota, and Colorado in play.
Stretching reality to convince citizens to remain in the conservative circle runs the risk of distorting their grasp on reality beyond control – and your own grasp on reality.
But who doesn’t get the time of day from Erickson in this message? Mr. Trump. Just an oversight? Off in another message? Or is Mr. Trump’s slipping grasp on honesty and truth so unpalatable that Erickson doesn’t dare go near it? I mean this quite literally, as Erickson has a stock story about being implicitly threatened with one or more guns when he didn’t initially support Mr Trump back in 2015 or 2016. Maybe he has worries about the safety of his family. From his own people.
Tells you why most Republicans qualify as fourth-raters.
