General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Are we really going to pretend we were fooled into the Iraq War? [View all]cthulu2016
(10,960 posts)The observation about human nature in the OP is what it is.
One can nibble it to death with silly word games if one wishes, but I assume that you, Cali, generally understand the phenomenon of people 'believing' things that match their emotional state absent any sense or evidence.
The American people (a phrase which rather obviously does not refer to all American persons) were not fooled. "We" believed our flimsy rationalizations the same way most Republicans 'believe' Obama was born outside the US.
Meanwhile, the American people do not believe in other things despite mountains of rock solid evidence.
And miraculously, what is claimed to be believed or not believed hews closely to what is compatible with our prejudices and interests, largely independent of the credibility of a given proposition.
But it is so much more fun to imagine that we are the "good Germans" led astray by a few bad apples.
But the NYT said this and that!!!!1!!!
So what? When, exactly, did the American people start believing everything a president says or everything the NYT prints?
America chose to pretend to believe a bunch of lies which, if incompatible with our mood, we would have instead chosen not to believe.