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28 Nov, 6 tweets, 2 min read
Worth reflecting on why the enormous inconsistencies and outrageous contradictions between the various conspiracies and dogmas that are circulating on the Right aren’t perceived as a problem. The key, I believe, is to discern what rightwingers consider the “Higher Truth.”
Regardless of the topic: The specifics of this or that conspiracy theory don’t matter to rightwingers - what matters is what they see as the “Higher Truth”: That Democrats / Lefties / Liberals are out to destroy “real” America, and that they must be stopped.
Anything that conforms to this Higher Truth - and paints “Us” (the in-group) as the sole proponents and heroic defenders of “real” (read: white Christian patriarchal) America while demonizing “Them” (the out-group) as an Un-American enemy - is enthusiastically embraced.
Judged by this rubric, all the incoherence that @MaxKennerly rightfully criticizes is immediately resolved: By the standard of factual evidence and consistency, the Fox News propaganda obviously doesn’t hold up; but it certainly adheres to the Higher Truth.
The same dynamic has shaped the rightwing mythology around January 6: The Insurrection never happened; or it did, but Antifa is to blame; or it was just a tourist visit; or it was a valiant struggle by patriotic Americans. Either way, what matters is that “We” are the good ones.
Crucially, this type of Higher Truth thinking and rationalizing that is so entirely detached from factual evidence or intellectual consistency is not just something that we encounter on the conspiratorial fringe - it has come to characterize much of the American Right.

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More from @tzimmer_history

Thomas Zimmer Profile picture
29 Nov
A distorting #polarization framework and the never-ending search for “both sides” equivalence produce seriously misleading political analysis.

Let’s dive into an especially egregious example: A PBS @NewsHour interview with sociologist James Davison Hunter. Brace yourselves. 1/
Right off the bat, JDH claims that the culture wars have turned into “class culture wars”: America split into two camps, a progressive elite vs the conservative middle and working classes. This, however, completely obscures the actual fault lines of the political conflict. 2/
This idea of “class culture wars” misrepresents the political coalitions on either side of the conflict. First of all, it ignores how enormously important a wealthy reactionary elite is in funding and defining the conservative political project. 3/
Read 28 tweets
Thomas Zimmer Profile picture
27 Nov
It is indeed a striking feature of the American political discourse: In determining whether or not something counts as extravagant or aloof, the socio-economic dimension is almost entirely ignored - all that counts are the cultural sensibilities of conservative white people.
In that sense, the latest Kamala Harris “scandal” is not just a predictable bad-faith attack from the rightwing outrage machine; it’s also well in line with the established parameters of who gets derided as “arrogant elite” and who gets celebrated as “regular folks.”
The terms “blue collar” and “working class,” for instance, almost always refer to either a type of professional occupation or certain reactionary cultural sensibilities of white people - not class or socio-economic status.
Read 9 tweets
Thomas Zimmer Profile picture
24 Nov
Utterly bizarre. I wish we could just shrug this off as irrelevant. But this kind of deliberate distortion of the political landscape is quite common in mainstream media - and most people, I’m afraid, don’t consume this as “Stephens being Stephens,” but as “I read it in the NYT.”
Maybe I’m wrong, but I worry that most people - normal people who don’t have the time to delve into who the opinion columnists are and what their political project is - just “read the NYT,” or the WaPo, and trust that if these reputable papers print it, then it’s important.
And their takeaway from “reading the NYT” must be that, wow, there’s really something wrong with the Democrats, “the NYT” is really critical about what’s going on over there! And just to be clear: That’s not the fault of the people trusting the Paper of Record, that’s on the NYT.
Read 6 tweets
Thomas Zimmer Profile picture
22 Nov
Not polarization, but radicalization of the Right.

This critique by @JRubinBlogger is crucial. I am researching the history of the #polarization idea and how it rose to become a defining narrative of our time, and I’d like to add some thoughts.

A (long) thread: 1/
Only one party, @JRubinBlogger reminds us, tolerates violence, refuses compromise in any way, and is defined by white Christian nationalism; “Only one party conducts fake election audits, habitually relies on conspiracy theories and wants to limit access to the ballot.” 2/
As @JRubinBlogger outlines convincingly in the column, the polarization interpretation therefore tends to obscure more than it illuminates. And yet, so many politicians, journalists, and pundits keep talking about how polarization is the root of all evil that plagues America. 3/
Read 56 tweets
Thomas Zimmer Profile picture
20 Nov
The #Rittenhouse verdict does not come as a surprise - but in conjunction with the reactions on the Right, it reveals a lot about this country and our current political moment, and none of it bodes well for the future of democracy.

My main takeaway - a thread:
A country defined by a political and social culture - characterized by white nationalism, gun fundamentalism, toxic masculinity, and glorified militancy - that is bound to produce many iterations of Kyle Rittenhouse…
A country in which the Right quickly unifies behind not only defending, but glorifying Rittenhouse’s actions…
Read 8 tweets
Thomas Zimmer Profile picture
18 Nov
Just got my Covid booster.

Great experience at the local CVS: Wonderful staff, nice conversation with others who were relieved to receive their booster.

Fighting against the pandemic could have been a great effort of communal solidarity. Shame on those who keep sabotaging it.
Getting the vaccine feels great. Not just because it protects me - but because acting in solidarity with the community, helping to keep others safe in a very concrete and direct way is wonderful. It puts me in an almost festive mood: I’m doing my part, we’re doing this together!
Considering that conservatives talk about communal values and the Common Good all the time, claiming to be the bulwark against a liberal cult of selfish individuality, it is doubly shameful that they simply cannot bring themselves to embrace this as a patriotic effort.
Read 6 tweets

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