Andrew Summers in New York comments on the nature of the GOP:
And in [Trump’s] latest war against the media, he is clearly winning. Close to 90 percent of Republicans believe the most patently mendacious president in history over the flawed, but still generally earnest, CNN. More to the point, as one new paper suggests, they support him even when they know he’s lying. And he has used this near-blind support to construct, in just six months, the close equivalent of a disciplined state-run media, across various platforms, from Fox to TMZ, to Sinclair and One America, from the National Enquirer to talk radio across the country, and potentially even Time Inc. in the future. In some ways, this media complex operates for Trump the way RT does for Putin. Yes, in America, unlike Russia, there’s a vibrant alternative, but, in some parts of America, that alternative barely peeks through …
At one time, the GOP would at least pay lip service to the importance of the truth. Indeed, the Clintons were demonized as terrible liars. But now? The GOP base idolizes power over truth.
That can have terrible consequences for the country.
