I almost began by quoting the immortally imbecilic yet remarkably insightful words of the great Yogi Berra: It was déjà vu all over again. But Yogiisms are meant to be funny, and there’s nothing funny about tens of millions of Americans mindlessly buying—often literally—what wacko Trumpist “conservative” talk show hosts are selling.
It was just a bit short of one year ago when, in a post I titled “The Conservative Curse of Gullibility,” I wrote about being subjected to non-stop “conservative” radio talk shows while on a long drive with some close friends who also happen to be steadfast members of the Trump cult.
This year’s drive included three hours of zany rants from the likes of Dennis Prager and “Officer Tatum.” Among their easily discredited claims were the following:
1. The CDC grossly exaggerated the number of U.S. COVID deaths.
2. The COVID vaccine made people—children especially—more susceptible to other diseases.
Both claims—which have swirled around the Trumpist orbit and into millions of malleable MAGA minds—are demonstrably false. And proving them false takes no more than a minute of research. But thinking critically is not a common quality among cultists.
Similarly, MAGA folks—like most other cultists—ascribe “truth” to the words of their leader and his acolytes rather than to observable, objective facts. So, as I’ve learned first-hand, trying to reason with them with verifiable facts is futile. Here’s a portion of what I emailed to my dear friends, refuting the talk show hosts’ claims:
"Officer Tatum" repeated a commonly referenced "conservative" claim that the CDC grossly exaggerated the number of COVID-19 deaths. (Coincidentally, this false claim ties back to a claim Dennis Prager made on his show, that one need not be a doctor or medical professional to draw conclusions about medical claims. He was wrong. Non-professionals often misunderstand nuances included in technical reports written by specialists. And this is the case with the claims about false reporting regarding U.S. COVID-19 deaths.)
Here's a link that—if one is willing to take the time to read—explains those often misunderstood nuances that led to the conservative talking point about "phony" stats regarding Covid deaths: Flawed Report Fuels Erroneous Claims About COVID-19 Death Toll - FactCheck.org
Then, as to Prager's claim that the COVID vaccine made people—children especially—more susceptible to other diseases, again, it's a case of non-professionals misunderstanding nuances in medical reports. Here's the truth: The government hasn’t admitted Covid-19 vaccines damage your natural immune system - Full Fact
We did this kind of false reporting—sometimes ignorantly and sometimes intentionally—when I worked in public policy at Focus on the Family. We were willing to abandon truth in our efforts to win the culture war.
Truth is more important than winning the culture war—or it should be.
My dear friends have not responded to my email, and if history is an accurate guide, they never will. Sadly, and ominously, they represent millions of gullible, gun-toting Americans.