General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Chris Mathews made an interesting and relevant point [View all]Cosmocat
(14,564 posts)I have seen it develop over the last 20 years.
They used to just silently listen to Limbaugh and feel good about their sense of personal victimhood and knowing there was an evil liberal boogyman to blame for all that they did not like in life.
That was the early/mid 90s.
The way that went after Clinton was the beginning of them going off the rails in public, and the ratio right wing spewing AM radio types exploded as there was such a good, and profitable market for it.
When the "liberal press" sold out during the Clinton years and carried every last bit of nonsense they came up with about him, the R ols started to realize that they literally could say ANYTHING, regardless of how factually baseless it was, or how vitriolic it was. and get away with it without the media holding them to account.
9-11 completely opened the floodgates when the media allowed the republicans to shout down anyone who did not agree with EVERYTHING the Rs wanted, as being unamerican and in league with terrorists. The media just stopped even trying to be impartial, and in near totality now operates from the prime directive of never negatively frame Rs/always negatively frame Ds.
This emboldened the high level pols and also brought in a new generation of absolute arsehats like Brewer and the you lie jaggoff.
Over the last 20 years, the people who sell it and their leaders have actually come to BELIEVE their crape.
And, from the top it trickles down.