It's not that liberals or Democrats are never wrong, or never lie. But the idea that it's perfectly okay -- even laudable -- to "believe" things that are not objectively true, has become a centerpiece of American conservative thought. They invert motivation, cause, and evidence reflexively now.
Like imagining that 30,000 scientists, not a few hundred industrialists, have the real motivation to lie about climate change, or concluding that any social safety net is a compelling motivation to be poor.
And then there is the Enemies List. Look at who Republicans claim are unreliable narrators: Teachers. Scientists. Journalism. Universities. They leave only religion and politics as the source of information on which to base an understanding of things, and celebrate a perverse vision of individualism that means everyone can pretend that the world is whatever would be most emotionally convenient for them. That greed is good. That poverty is a choice. That minority status, not majority membership, confers the most unearned benefits.
People catch on to this, a little at a time, but there is a lot of backsliding to catch up on. We're actually arguing (again) whether we should teach religion or science in science class. Whether health care reform is a plot to kill the elderly. Whether women own their reproductive systems. Whether the poor can be tricked or intimidated out of the voting process.
We spend so much time pushing back against utter nonsense that precious little discussion of anything that actually requires good-faith debate can be brought up. HOW we will deal with climate change, for example, rather than IF.
So many lies. So little time.
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