Letter from Daniel Gomes
When the Govt. Is Not Trusted
Once people are convinced by MAGA campaigns that their government and the mainstream media can’t be trusted, the purveyors of that propaganda are then free to suggest counterfactual scenarios. Without accepted fact checkers, MAGA devotees can just claim facts without having to prove them. It’s their core strategy.
It’s a convenient method to never have to refute embarrassing facts with actual evidence. It forces good people to become vulnerable to “alternative facts” and conspiracy theories. Chaos is the object of the game in the MAGA playbook.
With no trusted sources, what-if scenarios are easier to promote and accept—no matter what the origin. That’s when confirmation bias kicks in and when emotions can overcome reason.
Here are three well-honed MAGA tactics:
- Embed the argument you make inside a trumped-up grievance. Blame for conjured wrongdoing is easier to imply than verifiable facts are to impugn. That is why, for every problem that MAGA focuses on, the “remedy” is always the same—just complain and blame. Manufactured indignation allows retribution to become the solution to all problems. Further investigation is rendered unnecessary.
- Project your own faults onto your opponent. In MAGA circles, this doesn’t necessarily have to be taught. It sometimes comes already hardwired, as it is with Donald Trump. However, with practice and proper mentoring, it is an easy tactic for newbies to master.
- Pretend you believe what you say. This skill is not necessary unless and until you seek advancement in the Republican Party.
Daniel Gomes
Oneonta