Projection TV: Real Americans Watch Fox News

A focus-group study by Democracy Corps explains that Republican base voters live in "a world apart from the rest of America."

The Tea Parties of August already made that pretty clear.

Republican base voters believe themselves to be an oppressed minority that possesses "knowledge and insight that the majority of Americans -- whether too lazy or too misguided to find it for themselves -- do not possess." And -- surprise -- they get their special knowledge and insight largely from Fox News.

In 1999, Al Franken wrote the same thing. During the Clinton health care debate, the Annenberg School for Communications found that conservative talk radio listeners judged themselves the most informed on the topic. Testing, however, revealed that they were the least informed.

Franken wondered [my edit],

But why would people so woefully lacking in the basic facts of an issue think they were the best informed? Social scientists call the phenomenon "pseudo-certainty." I call it "being a f*#king moron."

A decade later we have Glenn Beck reinforcing his viewers' paranoid proclivities and helping them project their own darkest impulses onto opponents.

According to Democracy Corps, four core beliefs set the Republican base apart:

1. Deception and a Hidden Agenda -- "Obama is deliberately and ruthlessly advancing a 'secret agenda' to bankrupt our country and dramatically expand government control over all aspects of our daily lives."

2. Speed -- Obama is implementing change rapidly to keep ordinary Americans from knowing what he is doing.

3. Driving Government to the Brink and Total Control -- Obama is deliberately trying to burden America with so much debt that citizens will be unable to resist efforts to implement Obama's ultimate plan ...

4. The Ultimate Goal: Socialism and an End to Liberties -- Government takeover of health care is just the first step towards a complete suppression of liberty by our inefficient, ineffective and corrupt government.

It is a pretty stunning case of projection, as one of Andrew Sullivan's readers suggests:

[Obama] is the out of control spender when they sat on their hands through all of Bush's malfeasance. That is why his talking to schoolchildren is dangerous when our government wiretapping its citizens wasn't. That is why saving the financial system from years of Republican regulation is taking away our future. The more evil revealed about the right's excesses on torture, or wars of choice, or nearly destroying the economy, the more evil Obama will look in their eyes, as they cannot tolerate owning responsibility, because in their own minds they are only good.

Paul Rosenberg explains the viewpoint in a separate discussion at Open Left:

[T]he disconnect is particularly strikingly. That is, until you take a step back, and see the underlying consistency ... in their minds, they alone are America. If they're not running things, then it's not America ... If you are the real America and everyone else is not, well, then, you can do pretty much whatever you want -- and do it all in the name of America.

Conservatives and independents in the Democracy Corps focus group were sensitive to charges that racism is behind their criticism of Obama. So much so, that they came back to it "again and again."

However much it is, their discomfort is not all about race. It's broader. It's tribal.

"Real Americans" are easily threatened, and view those outside their tribe with suspicion, like teenagers in the mall who they are convinced are there to shoplift -- illegitimate, untrustworthy, low-caste Irresponsibles, bad apples who don't deserve America. Those outside their tribe don't deserve to carry the flag, don't deserve to wear the uniform or to enjoy the blessings of liberty. Especially, they don't deserve to vote.

"Real Americans" believe America's bad apples pay no taxes. The "lucky duckies" don't even pay sales tax, property tax, tax on gasoline, on heating oil, cigarette tax, telephone excise tax, unemployment tax, Social Security tax, Medicare and Medicaid.

"Real Americans" would love to repeal the 16th Amendment, but so long as they pay income tax, they'll be the betters of countrymen who they think pay any less. They will rail about how unfairly they're treated and what a drag on the economy and their fortunes are the great unwashed who have turned this once great country into one "where poor people can put billionaires out of business."

These Atlases see themselves stoically carrying America upon their shoulders while being dragged relentlessly down by the grubby, grasping hands of the less well-born; by people not as honest, upstanding and hard-working as they are; by the parasites of capitalism who contribute nothing; by deadbeats and losers who have structured their lives so they can spend them sucking the teat of real America.

No wonder they feel "a world apart." And Fox News is there to remind them, if they ever have doubts.

 

 

Comments

[liberalcynic]

unfortunately Obama's comments are in fact a reality, it is the Republician media arm, not dealing in the news, but churnalism.
more importantly, the same thing which allowed that weather balloon to become news is the cause of this churnalism, news rooms do not have the time to check stories and criticise the provernance. the focus from getting it right has become getting it first; it's just that Fox News is doing right wing churnalism; and therefore it is fully warrented the statements of the president.

[oldngrumpy]

Making chit up assures that you always have a scoop.

[realpolitic]

"The Ultimate Goal: Socialism and an End to Liberties -- Government takeover of health care is just the first step towards a complete suppression of liberty by our inefficient, ineffective and corrupt government."

Yes, just like Medicare and social security were said to be ruinous to our liberty. Instead, these programs guaranteed the prosperity of America and the rise of a strong middle class for generations. How much more competitive would our businesses be if we took the health care burden off their backs? How much more competitive would America be if we were healthy and getting sick did not send us to debtor's prison? By the way, very well written article!

[msgirlintn]

This makes so much sense. From "The Family" on C Street and their beliefs to Sarah Palin's comments about the "real America" to the protestors at town halls saying "I just want my country back. One thing that always gets under my skin when a Republican is interviewed is the line "Well the Ameridan people want"..... They simply don't get that they have no clue what the American people want and the American people said so in the election.

Amazing! Thanks for this post. You could almost feel sorry for them if they weren't so arrogant.

[Don Quixote]

"Republican base voters believe themselves to be an oppressed minority that possesses 'knowledge and insight that the majority of Americans... do not possess.' And -- surprise -- they get their special knowledge and insight largely from Fox News."

Not to repeat myself - I used this same quote elsewhere today - but Stephen Hawking has the absolutely perfect response to this:

"The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge."

I would only add that those who suffer from these delusions of knowledge and feelings of being the chosen ones, are by far the greatest threat to the future of our society right now. Fox News and nearly the entirety of AM radio are sounding more and more like the modern-day equivalent of fascist propaganda pamphlets being air-dropped ubiquitously 24/7. I don't have to tell you where and when this happened and what it presaged and how quickly we can descend to those depths again.

You don't think that can happen? Watch five minutes of Fox News with a critical mind, look at the hate and anger on these people's faces and think again. Then think about what would happen after a major catastrophic event, one that is unthinkable. This really isn't funny or amusing anymore. If we've learned anything from history, it's that good people staying silent or taking these fanatic zealots lightly is very often hazardous to all our lives and liberty.

[NewLiberals]

Wow the 'publican base is the perfect storm for Fox.

There was a report that found that the smarter a person was the more likely they were to understand that there was much more in the world to know and such rated themselves less smart then they actually were. The less smart a person was the more likely that they would rate themselves above their actual intelligence, possibly because they didn't know what they didn't know. Help me I'm channeling Rumsfeld!!!

So you take a less smart person and show them Fox News and now they possess "knowledge and insight that the majority of Americans -- whether too lazy or too misguided to find it for themselves -- do not possess."

You have not to bright people (who think they are pretty darn smart), watching shows that tell them they must be the smart ones because they are watching these shows and here are the true facts of what's happening in the world. Which only the smart people will understand and therefore agree with. This sounds like some twisted Pavlovian conditioning experiment.

[Tom Sullivan - Huffpost Blogger]

Watch the clip in the last link above: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NPcUvGRcvc

They assume they get the "real truth," the "real facts" from Fox. Then they surf other networks and see lack of coverage of the same nonsense as proof that the others are in the tank for Obama (or whoever the designated public enemy is).

[dakotawoman]

Thanks, Tom, for an excellent and insightful synopsis of the danger the "Faux News Tribe" presents to our society.

Been seeing and saying it myself for a long time now.

The "tribe" concept is very apt, because the essence of the group is more than merely racist, more than simply political, not limited by region, nor completely shaped by ethnicity and very affected by socio-economic level. Unfortunately, that allows them to disavow technical membership in various camps, but to retain (perhaps subconsciously) the attitudes.

The need to retain the "John Wayne" image of America from the end of WWII as the savior, model, boss and envy of the world appears to be necessary to their senses of identity. Loss of identity by individuals and groups creates genuinely frightening vortices of instability. Anything can happen.

Although we are all weary and disgusted of Nazi Germany allusions, this one is inescapable. The German people were stripped of their self-identification as a powerful, worthy cultural entity after WWI -- leaving that vortex in which Hitler and his ilk could thrive.

Frightening.

[LMPE]

Tribal is exactly what they are. These self-proclaimed "real Americans" are the manifestation of "Idiocracy".

[AuntieChrist]

Simply put:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2489/3951194747_ff0bd825c0_o.jpg

Auntie Christ

[BruceHNV]

OMG. The brown paper sign says it best: "Thank you Fox News for keeping us 'infromed.'" and, in the corner, "God Bless Amereca." Yes. Couldn't have said it better myself.

[EugeneMorgan]

Not "real Americans" just the good ones.

[BruceHNV]

"But why would people so woefully lacking in the basic facts of an issue think they were the best informed?"

One way to ensure this is to prime your audience by informing them that "What I'm about to tell you, you won't hear anywhere else - certainly not in the mainstream media..." Which is, of course quite true, because what the speaker is about to say is pure fiction.

A favorite way to do this is to "dissect" some piece of legislation. Take certain phrases and clauses out of it and explain the "real" danger which cannot be seen in the plain language of the law, uncover the "sinister motives" of the authors of the bill, and point out what it is they're "really trying to do" by writing a law which often not only contains none of the complained-of hazards, but in fact does contain countervailing language to see to it that the "hidden danger" is not a danger at all - because the bill has protections against it.

Having hidden agenda of lawmakers thus "explained" to them, these students of delusion "wake up" to a fictional reality of which they are the sole possessors. So they know more than we do. About pretty much everything.

[SageFire]

I have a lot of family in that camp and the truth is they are extremely rigid in their beliefs and highly selective and suspicious in their relationships. The people who seem to wave the "freedom" flag the highest are also the most determined to make sure the rest of us are only free to be absolutely exactly like them. The distain with which they view anyone who has a single thought outside their belief system is shocking and yet they claim the rest of the world "hates us for our freedoms". Projection much?

[Tom Sullivan - Huffpost Blogger]

And some of it is simply compensation. They bluster for fear of being thought weak, whether in politics, law enforcement or faith. All of it to bury the gnawing doubts. For people so certain of themselves and their beliefs, why are they so easily threatened by Darwin, gay men, foreigners and liberals?

[SageFire]

Agreed, and this is where compassion comes in. It is a tall task I struggle with daily. How to teach and support without getting triggered.

[BruceHNV]

Because, deep down, they are not certain at all. They have no direct subjective experience in most cases which justifies their beliefs, so they require continual reinforcement, affirmation, agreement and peer support to ratify what they fear could otherwise turn out to be baseless credulity.

Thus, the compensation - the bluster, the braggadocio, conclusory declarations of what is so. All to provide some armor between the harsh world and their own vacuous center.

[wanttruth]

Great column! Thank you.

[HST]

Andrew Sullivan's reader nailed it:

"his talking to schoolchildren is dangerous when our government wiretapping its citizens wasn't. That is why saving the financial system from years of Republican regulation is taking away our future...they cannot tolerate owning responsibility, because in their own minds they are only good."

These people are delusional at best. They criticize every attempt at cleaning up the mess their chosen one left behind.

[lesterbud]

Very well written and 100% fanned Mr. Sullivan.

To my thinking, the big difference between these real Americans and the rest of us, is that we are burdened with intelligence and critical thought processes, while they have belief.

Belief is very powerful, requires no facts, feeds upon its very preposterous nature, and is always right.
You can not defeat belief with knowledge - it is impervious to contradiction.
Belief gets stronger the more persecuted it believes itself to be.
Belief knows that it will succeed, no matter the odds, no matter the logic.

Thus, the Limbaughs, Becks and Coulters, as well as the Palins and Bachmans, supported by the Dr. Dobsons, Pat Robertsons, and Rick Warrens, need only feed the beast of belief to control their minions. Fear is the most popular menu item as it strengthens the resolve of true believers, gives them justification for their hate and bonds them with others of their ilk against the evil wanting to ruin their America.

[Jmz4gtu]

"These Atlases see themselves stoically carrying America upon their shoulders while being dragged relentlessly down by the grubby, grasping hands of the less well-born; by people not as honest, upstanding and hard-working as they are; by the parasites of capitalism who contribute nothing; by deadbeats and losers who have structured their lives so they can spend them sucking the teat of real America."
-This, despite the fact that most of our country's wealth and innovative capacity are firmly rooted in Democratic states, and that Red States are a net drain on the federal government.

The psychology is interesting. What used to simply refer to fiscal discipline and "traditional values" has become synonymous with narrow minded, smug, self-righteous behavior. This is the inexorable result of a philosophy that tries in vain to preserve the status quo by exclusion and repression. They've been left behind by those they sought to exclude, as our society has become more meritocratic, their lack of imagination has left them alienated and bitter.
However, I think we will see a worth brand of Republicans emerging. One that will learn to cherish and preserve the good parts of society without fearing and resenting new social forces and changes.

[Tom Sullivan - Huffpost Blogger]

They were respectable back in the days of "Firing Line," back when Buckley and Galbraith used to do college tours, right an left debating each other on issues of the day. It was respectful, informative and WFB and JKG actually liked each other, no matter their philosophical differences. That was before religious/political fundamentalists gained control of the GOP.

Now the firing line is deep in the woods at the militia training ground.

[Jmz4gtu]

Well, there will be plenty of chances for them to take up the old mantra of fiscal discipline. Once these social programs are put in place, the wars wind down, and the economy picks up, there will be a serious need to address the budget deficit and and the national debt.

[alexunlv]

Excellent piece! Love Al Franken! A true progressive! Al's been at it for some time, with books such as "Rush Limbaugh is a big fat idiot" and "Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them, a fair and balanced look at the right."

Lets not forget these "patriots" are the same people who wanted to hunt down every unpatrioti­c/un-Ameri­can who dared question the Patriot Act or the War in Iraq. Here they are now, threatining the President of the United States! Calling him such vile things and raising the threat level against him, thereby contributing to the increased work for Secret Service which leads to a National Security threat. But I take it, they are just doing it for the good of the country and therefore they are more Patriotic because of it.

Orly?

Lunatics!