In an online chat with Chuck Todd, someone asked how Obama can counter the outrageous claims made by conservatives. I think "conservatives" is a nice--and wrong--word for them. Chuck said the Obama administration tends to ignore them at first and then ends up defending itself. True.
The White House ignores the criticism at first because it seems so outlandish that no one would believe it. Then a funny thing happens, conservatives spread emails like wildfire and people believe it. It's mass paranoia about socialism. The right has become extreme.
People believed that Obama ordered lobster in Bozeman, Montana. They believed in death panels. They believe that Obama is indoctrinating youth into his socialist plot with his back-to-school speech.
Sounds crazy to you and me. Yet there are bunches of people who believe this stuff. Look at Glenn Beck, who's practically having a meltdown before our eyes. He says all this ridiculous stuff. Yesterday it was communist art on the NBC building. And people believe it! These people are clearly suffering some sort of mass delusion. Does the Internet help spread psychosis too? I think so.
What I wonder: is the rightwing opposition to health reform bigger than the support for health reform? The way it's portrayed in the media, it seems like everybody in your neighborhood is a rightwing kook.
