Opinion by Jennifer Rubin
Columnist
November 6, 2020 at 7:45 a.m. EST

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Many in the right-wing media bubble are marooned in a weird time warp in which the “other side” is some Cold War-era Marxist caricature. (Hence, the infatuation with the word “socialist." ) But there is also a jaw-dropping, willful blindness about U.S. history and race that allows Trumpian media personalities to exempt anyone from the charge of white supremacy unless they don a robe and hood. These opinion-makers and politicians have imbibed an unhealthy dose of authoritarianism and self-satisfaction with the status quo to the exclusion of concern for social justice, tolerance, freedom, equality and inclusion. Wittingly or not, they are the quintessential defenders of white supremacy, in which challenges to authority are painted as extreme and dangerous.

Mix in a heap of White evangelical Christians’ sense of victimhood (for whom no legal accommodation of religious liberty is sufficient), and you get a writhing right-wing culture that feels justified in its intellectual dishonesty. It is more than willing to recklessly dispense whatever snippets of information advance its philosophy with little regard for the source’s credibility. The results are injurious to our democracy and often even to the right wing’s stated values (e.g., capitalism, family integrity).

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What do we do about this phenomenon? Appealing to the better angels of their nature seems like weak tea. Instead, we need steady determination to rebuke falsehoods at every turn and drain the myth-makers of some of their effectiveness. Some public-spirited billionaires’ investment in media outlets — not to change their ideological outlook, but to insist on strict adherence to reality — would be welcome. A willingness to debunk right-wing dishonesty on its own turf (God bless former South Bend, Ind., mayor Pete Buttigieg for going on Fox News) might also help. (Disclosure: I’m a contributor for MSNBC.) And, sometimes, an intervention comes from within, as when numerous reporters and editors at the Wall Street Journal revolted against the editorial page’s proclivity to play fast and loose with facts. There are also heroic efforts among NeverTrumpers, such as the team at the Bulwark, to take on purveyors of right-wing lies and nonsense.

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We have seen one painful consequence of this intellectual dishonesty: Millions of Americans are convinced to put themselves at risk of contracting a deadly disease rather than listen to fact-based “elites.” Many have died as a result, and self-governance has been weakened. The sooner we confront the right-wing myth-making industry, the better.