The Republican wake-up call
I hate the terms “misinformation” and “disinformation.” Just tell it like it is. Malicious bold-faced lies, propaganda and conspiracy theories are being spread on social media, falsely defended by Republicans and the conservative media juggernaut in angry and theatrical manners as “conservative opinions” protected by free speech.
Some Republicans are finally promoting vaccination, including Mitch McConnell and Ron DeSantis, surprisingly. Sean Hannity of Fox News has been applauded for doing the same, but that’s not exactly what he said. He made a carefully-worded statement to take the virus seriously and consult your doctor about being vaccinated — an improvement, but I’m fairly certain most anti-vaxxers don’t consult their doctors unless they’re sick. Unfortunately, all of you have been lying for so damn long, this is too little, too late. Why should you be trusted now? You have successfully convinced many Americans they cannot trust our government. Some are so addicted to the crazy conspiracies, or just the anger and outrage of “owning the libs”, that they purposely seek out the vicious lies. Others are just stuck in a social media algorithm, so that’s all they see. Many blow up, lash out and go into attack mode when presented with true facts contradictory to their beliefs. Others think when Facebook bans or puts disclaimers on their posts, it just confirms they are in cahoots with a corrupt government.
How someone could still believe the coronavirus is a hoax is beyond me, but sadly doctors are reporting they do exist. Some are convinced it is irresponsible to be vaccinated prior to FDA approval, while they are actually putting themselves and their own children at high risk. Others are so convinced Democrats are a socialist or communist threat, they see anything President Biden promotes as an infringement on their freedom. Some Trumpsters are just so vindictive about the “stolen election,” they would rather risk death than do anything that might make Biden look good, which Trump appears to be promoting. Yet others believe vaccination is the biggest “human drug test” in American history, being implemented by the government for nefarious reasons. Some even believe it “magnetizes” you, or worse. Yet, more believe there must be some truth in all of the propaganda. It’s just insane.
Few have woken up to the fact that they’ve been had. At this point, it will require the majority of Republicans and conservative media figures to come out and heavily promote vaccination — not once, but repeatedly — to achieve anything close to the number of vaccinated Americans required to beat this pandemic. It would be nice if this taught some of you propagandists a lesson that it’s time to change your ways, but I won’t hold my breath. Maybe Democrats will get courageous and pass legislation cracking down on the dangerous lies spewed by conservative media and spread on social media platforms, protecting our privacy and preventing it from being so heavily monetized, purposely inciting addictive behavior.
