I had a friend once who had trouble not only with the law but also with his short term memory. He had gotten into it with some off duty police and his criminal case was languishing in the court system. During that time, he had this bright idea that he would file suit against them for assault and violation of his civil rights. I told him that was very bad idea because you can't back the popo up against the wall like that and they'd never let him walk from his criminal case.
He wouldn't let go of it and I prepared the suit for him to proceed pro se (thank God it was in another state) but constantly warned him of how stupid an idea it was. He filed it, and then couldn't believe that they wouldn't dismiss his criminal charges. He'd call me at least daily with a new stupid idea and I'd try to explain, usually tactfully, the reason it was a bad idea. He'd get mad, curse at me and hang up, only to call again in a couple of hours with the same idea, having wholly forgotten that we'd already discussed it. He would always do the exact opposite of what I said.
Once, exasperated, I asked him why he'd continually call me, ask for my opinion, then get mad when I gave him it. He explained to me that "people like to hear things they agree with."
A conservative friend posted a link from a conservative site on FB today, the headline of which said, "(anonimous) Military Official blasts Obama on handling of ISIS in Mideast," or something like that. There were maybe a hundred comments, all of which talked of haw terrible a commander/leader/president he is and how he won't let the army fight Muslims. I posted a comment that, if he was indeed a military official and not an ex-official, he's insubordinate. Some four hours later, no one has responded.
When Clive Bundy was a Fox news hero last year, nobody on Fox would comment on the obvious fact that Uncle Clive was a moocher, having been grazing his cattle on government land for 10 years plus and not paying his fees. The anti-government message was just tooooooooo good to look into the underlying facts. It took his blatant racism for the Fox team to drop him like the proverbial hot potato, and had Clive learned the subtle art of dog whistle racism he'd still be on today. Totally flawed messenger, so you ignore that particular fact as long as you can because ohhhhhh, do we like that message!.
Conversely, when Senator Bernie Sanders says the least remarkable thing, like there is too much financial disparity, Fox will blast him as the "socialist" and all other sorts of silly name calling stuff. They won't analyze his message because that would give it a platform, so they just kill the messenger.
Fox News has made an industry of spoon feeding millions of its viewers exactly what they want to hear and who are not savvy enough to understand how they are being manipulated. The mouthpiece of the GOP will engage in any and all kinds of sexist, bigoted and homophobic nonsense to pretend that it is just a counterweight to "liberalism," when, in fact, its just a counterweight to reason.
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