True Believer

A recent letter to the editor of my local paper serves as a model of the true believer, an extreme example of what sustained exposure to right-wing  propagandists like the late Rush Limbaugh and Fox News star personalities can do to the human brain. The writer has become convinced that government is the root of all evil — not just the federal government, but all governments. 

Some letters in this vein are barely literate. This one exhibits excellent prose style and mastery of basic grammar. The author seems to be intelligent and well-educated, but that didn’t insulate her from nonsensical ideology. She states: “The governments have taken away every right that they can. They have forced the economy to the bottom limits of sustainability. . .  The abuse of power that these self-righteous nobodies (governors. mayors, council members, commissioners and of course know-nothing health department heads) is disgusting to say the least. It is way, way beyond time for us to take our country and our lives back. Why don’t we set a date of March 1?”

Take back our country? Wasn’t that what the rioters attempted on January 6th. They set their goal too low, aiming just at Congress. Government at every level must go –– and tomorrow, March 1st. Then what? That’s the question right-wing propagandists never come to grips with.