The U.S. will mark the anniversary of the January 6 insurrection on Saturday, a milestone that will confer upon the reality-dwelling citizenry a grim reminder of the potency of propaganda and how quickly it can warp perception when introduced into the public square.

Just three years ago, most of the country watched with dismay and horror as a violent MAGA mob beat back authorities and stormed the country’s citadel of democracy. The Donald Trump-incited crush of disillusioned rioters, fueled by a stream of fantastical lies, believed that the 2020 election had been stolen by sinister forces working to undermine the democratic election.

Of course, not only was their belief flatly incorrect, but evidence later emerged indicating that it was Trump who, in fact, had tried to subvert democracy.

Facts, however, have little bearing on the sentiment inside the Republican Party, which has been fed a steady diet of lies and half-truths by Fox News and the rest of the sprawling right-wing media machine. To wit, the false notion that Joe Biden nefariously stole the 2020 election is now widely shared inside the GOP. A CNN poll conducted over the summer found that nearly 70% of Republicans believe Biden’s win was not legitimate, a number that has continued to tick up.

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[–] 204 points 2 years ago* (146 children)

IMO, this event was worse for America and the world than 9/11. What goodwill and credibility can America exercise on the world stage when Trump can incite a violent attack on the US Congress, and he is still the front runner?

If he had convinced the Capital Police to get rid of the metal detectors, as he tried to do, America would be under a Trump dictatorship right now.

As if his capitulation to Russia, Saudi Arabia, China, or North Korea shouldn't immediately disqualify him, or the millions of dollars he personally received from foreign governments during his presidency.

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  • [–] 78 points 2 years ago (37 children)

    It's a matter of degrees .... American establishment wants fascism, they are just taking their time getting there.

    The problem isn't Trump, Trump is an idiot and dime a dozen, once he dies, there will be another idiot just like him that the establishment will court and push into our faces every day.

    The problem are the millionaires and billionaires of America that are funding all this crap and keep maintaining it all. If all this relied on Trump's charisma, it would have died out a long time ago ... it's just a huge marketing machine that keeps it afloat.

    As long as we keep seeing these headlines, no matter if it's Trump or someone else ... it's just a sign that the wealthy want fascism to keep growing because they know it will mean a win fall for them at the cost of all of us.

    Thanks America ... you're doing a bang up job.

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  • [–] 19 points 2 years ago (7 children)

    Nothing personal against Mike Pence, but there's a part of me that thinks it would have been better if he'd gotten in that car and been disappeared.

    An assassinated vice president would have forced Biden to crack down on fascism harder.

    But without effective leadership, the problem's gotten worse.

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  • [–] 18 points 2 years ago

    when Trump can incite a violent attack on the US Congress, and he is still the front runner?

    remember Adolf Hitler tried to start an insurrection, got caught, thrown in jail, wrote a book, and then got elected and started World War 2.

    And remember how much Trump loves dictators.

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  • [–] 17 points 2 years ago

    Ya but....9/11 was brown people, 1/6 was white people.

    There is absolutely a difference in how Americans view the people involved. That's only been reinforced with this incident.

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    [+] 127 points 2 years ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (17 children)
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    [–] 76 points 2 years ago

    Their continued refusal to acknowledge that it was a crime, and the normalization of criminal conspiracy and use of political violence to chill efforts to hold people accountable... all amounts to organized crime masquerading as legitimate politics

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  • [–] 53 points 2 years ago (32 children)

    I'm still shocked to this day that police weren't mowing people down as they tried to force their way in. By not doing so, they basically said, "this is fine" IMO.

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  • [–] 17 points 2 years ago (2 children)

    This. When I first heard I imagined they'd set up a few MG nests and show they weren't fucking around. I was quite surprised by how little a reaction, especially from the most gun happy country

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    [–] 49 points 2 years ago (5 children)

    My MAGA dad keeps telling me it was an inside job by the Democrats. He's saying everything was filmed way in advance by actors and everything was peaceful because of this mystical "new evidence" coming out; all the cops were a-part of the FBI, CIA, ect.

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    [–] 49 points 2 years ago (2 children)

    Even the Republicans who admit Trump was at fault for the events of 1/6 still say they'll vote for him.

    It isn't about right and wrong to them, its about getting a fascist in the White House to reorder society into their prescribed hierarchy. Different factions have their grudges: trans people & other sexual minorities, POCs, foreigners, religious minorities, and leftists.

    The hatred is what unites them, but they're too goddamn stupid to see that fascism always eats itself in the end because it constantly needs a new target upon which they can focus their blinding rage.

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  • [–] 20 points 2 years ago* (1 child)

    It's extremely blatant at this point and they aren't trying to hide it. Support for Republicans is support for American fascism and Christian nationalism at this point. We really need to start acting like it. You wouldn't hire a Nazi. You wouldn't go on a date with one, or allow one in your bar or invite them to thanksgiving. America could defeat Nazis again without lifting a finger, but everyone is too fucking afraid that uncle Marty might get upset to take direct action in their own lives. So we'll end up back to fighting them in the streets one day.

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  • [–] 38 points 2 years ago (5 children)

    Look for Republicans to make a holiday of January 6th. It's only a matter of time.

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  • [+] 37 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)
    [–] 29 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (7 children)

    The article correctly identifies Fox News and right-wing media as spreading propaganda about Jan. 6th. However, we've known Fox News is not a legitimate news source since at least 2000 or earlier. For every article like this, I am internally screaming: ok, but how do we do to fix this?

    The biggest problems seem to be:

    1. Fox News and related right-wing media inoculates viewers against non-extremist sources. They explicitly and implicitly, constantly, tell viewers that other news sources are lying to them and cannot be trusted. When the audience is exposed to actual facts by actual objective reporting, the inoculation kicks in and they immediately reject those facts as liberal lies and conspiracy. Right-wing media frequently also accuses democrats of doing what the GOP is in fact doing in bad faith. Even without evidence, that further undermines legitimate complaints about the GOP's tactics.

    2. Politicians exploit the audience this propaganda has created, to scapegoat and harden voting habits. The same propaganda outlets constantly find liberal boogeymen - immigrant criminals, "woke" nonsense stories, minor issues with liberal programs in America that they amplify and distort, international stories of left-wing failures of governance. A combination of 1984-style 2-minutes-of-hate, and "but for the grace of God and the GOP go we" fear-mongering.

    3. The GOP has successfully tied itself to religion for a huge voting population, and religion for most people is non-negotiable. "Gods, guns and Trump" signs are not just an anecdotal type of supporter - that marriage is the core of the GOP. Religion awards value based on faith, and that actually means the less these voters question Trump and accept him as part of their faith, the better they feel about him. That's a huge problem.

    4. There is no required critical thinking training or teaching in schools to help kids understand how to form their own opinions in the midst of essentially information warfare. Schools can't appear partisan, but to call a spade a spade: Kids are growing up bombarded by propaganda, and by the time they have the facilities to decide for themselves what they think, that environment usually has decided for them.
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    My best thoughts for fixing:

    1. For #s 1-2, voters need to keep the senate and presidency and take the house this year (no big deal!), and implement a "news" media fact-checking law. Defamation/libel laws are not enough to stop this type of propaganda. It would be difficult within the First Amendment, but I think a law formalizing what is considered "news" that sets a cap on opinion pieces, unsupported speculation, and reporting of non-verifiable facts would be a start and not unconstitutional. No speech would be prevented, but Fox News' brand of trash couldn't be called "news" any longer. The challenge is creating a legal tool that can't easily be misused to enforce the very authoritarian propaganda it's trying to prevent.
    2. For #s 1-2 and 4, state governments could introduce a comprehensive critical thinking curriculum for kids. It's objectively non-partisan to help kids critically assess information in the internet/social media age, so this seems sellable as long as it isn't politicized.
    3. For #3, I don't know the best way. I think at least introducing cognitive dissonance showing how different religion tells us to act versus how Trump and company act would be a start, but it's probably impossible to untangle politics and religion to most on the right.
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    [–] 21 points 2 years ago (6 children)

    No it's just poisoning the people that have no logical thinking and believe anything Trump says.

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    [–] 19 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    The narrative around this event has been downplayed so much that it feels like a non factor for Trump. If it was anyone else in trouble for this there wouldn't be so much debate.

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    [–] 16 points 2 years ago (14 children)

    This was by the far the most horrifying act of treason in world history. And as pointed out by USA TODAY, the ongoing belief that "the election was stolen" is by far the most false and destructive act that continues to poison our country. The article was written by the man Trump himself selected to investigate election fraud, and what he found was that not only did no substantial fraud occur, the little bit he did find was biparitisan, with as many republicans guilty of voting twice as democrats.

    Charles Dickens warned in "A Christmas Carol" that the worst fate to befall mankind is Ignorance. And willful ignorance of the truth is a path to ultimate destruction and ruin of all of human society.

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    [+] 16 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)
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