@SethCotlar @jordanlperkins People who voted against Hillary, without necessarily being supportive of Trump, eventually evolved into defenders of Trump when that vote became a judgment about their morality/character. Eventually they began to identify with, internalize, & defend Trump's persecution narrative
@SethCotlar @jordanlperkins Once this occurred, there probably was a need to find "evidence" to not only outwardly defend themselves and their decision/vote, but also to inwardly reassure themselves that their vote against Hillary (default vote for Trump) wasn't an indictment against their moral compass. 2/
@SethCotlar @jordanlperkins That "evidence" was not only the easiest to find on radical right and Russian manipulated news sources, but, regardless of its truthfulness, it was also the most damning against Hillary, the most exculpating of Trump, and, by proxy, the most exculpating of themselves 3/
@SethCotlar @jordanlperkins Most people already have a poor understanding of epistemology, so their ability to apply a proper level of discernment is lacking. This is especially true when their level of personal investment is extremely high 4/
@SethCotlar @jordanlperkins Obviously, when they're defending their moral character, which is what a defense of their vote for Trump has become, they will search for any and all "evidence"......... regardless of the reliability, accuracy, or truthfulness. 5/
@SethCotlar @jordanlperkins Confirmation bias is a huge problem in the political climate. But at least in this context, the political component is secondary b/c some Trump voters were initially seeking bias-confirming evidence that exonerated their character/morality. 6/
@SethCotlar @jordanlperkins Once they felt their character had been sufficiently vindicated, they could comfortably view themselves as the "good guys". At this point the binary, "us vs them", "in-group/out-group" societal conditioning kicks in, and a zero-sum assessment is made: 7/
@SethCotlar @jordanlperkins ...."if I'm the good guy, then my persecutors are the enemy, and they and their beliefs are evil". This assessment is substantiated by the fact that they believe they were unfairly persecuted. From this point on they and Trump have "merged". 8/
@SethCotlar @jordanlperkins And any piercing of Trump's infallibility is a piercing of their own rebuilt and recently confirmed morality and good character. If Trump is exposed, it threatens to shatter their self-concept. Hence, the hyper-aggressive quest to seek out & propagate bias-confirming information

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More from @Nick_Carmody

Feb 20
I meant to include climate change in the original thread.

As difficult as it is to accept, similar to the other issues laid out in the thread....does anyone believe climate change will be mitigated under the authoritarian aspirations of the Republican party?

No, it won’t.

1/
The contradiction: millions of people on the Right who've been "activated" by Bannon....and who, after decades of supporting/protecting corporations, now suddenly want to tear down the system & all of the exploitive actors who've profited.....2/

.....is that after decades of manipulation, they continue to cling to most damaging/threatening narrative.....created by one of the richest/most exploitive industries/corporations (fossil fuel)....that either funds some of the most anti-American regimes (Russian/Middle East)...3/
Read 9 tweets
Feb 14
A recent Trump rally was a sobering reminder of what’s at stake in 2022/2024.

In his speech, Trump openly attempted to obstruct justice, tampered w/witnesses, and, similar to the 1/6 insurrection, encouraged widespread “protests” if he was indicted. 1/
Seemingly every week, there is new evidence further exposing the orchestrated attempt by Trump/GOP to undermine democracy.

And yet, it’s Republican voters who overwhelmingly believe democracy is facing a major threat. 2/ grinnell.edu/news/52-americ…
The absurdity of this is that Republican voters’ belief that democracy is threatened is what actually creates the threat:

Trump’s/GOP’s lies about the 2020 election have manipulated Republicans into thinking it’s patriotic to “steal it back”, & therefore undermine democracy. 3/
Read 51 tweets
Jan 22
An interesting study is linked in @michelleinbklyn's article on how politics negatively affect mental/physical health. The study utilized self-report instruments used to measure Alcohol/Gambling addiction...which is unsurprising based on the parallels: 1/
Specifically, the study found: 2/

journals.plos.org/plosone/articl…
I've previously analyzed the multitude of factors that affect political impulse control, including social media "addiction"-related sleep deprivation that hyper-activates the amygdala (emotion), & deactivates the prefrontal cortex (reason/judgment).... 3/
Read 9 tweets
Jan 20
This thread will attempt to organize, link, and allow me to more easily add my media appearances....in order of the oldest, to the most recent:

My initial appearance on Paul Samuel Dohlman's @psdhitchhiker's "What Matters Most" podcast: 1/
An appearance with recent Lincoln Project addition, Democratic Strategist Joe Trippi's, "That Trippi Show", podcast: 3/

Read 10 tweets
Jan 13
"Now we'll really prove the election was stolen".

The political/election version of rapture prophecies that just keep moving the promised date/outcome farther down the line, with "the delusional, non-occurring predictions reinforcing belief in the conspiracy".

B/c: dopamine. 1/
Read 4 tweets
Jan 9
I watched 3 hours of the Joe Rogan interview Dr. Robert Malone. Some observations about Malone, Rogan....and the complexities involving Covid/vaccines, “truth”, cancel culture, Big Pharma, the tribalization of science, political disinformation, and the “Trump effect”: 1/
First, it reinforces how catastrophic it was to have someone as pathologically dishonest as Trump as POTUS when Covid surfaced. I analyzed this extensively in the 70+ threads written between Trump’s covid “hoax” rally, and the 1/6 insurrection. 2/
Trump lies like he breathes.

As a result, he not only convinced roughly half the country that they couldn’t believe a word he said…

...but he also convinced the other half of the country that they couldn’t believe anything anyone else said (“fake news”). 3/
Read 71 tweets

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