Texas, don't let the door hit you on your way out
By Sid Schwab / Herald columnist
The Backfire Effect: Far more characteristic of self-described conservatives than liberals, it’s the demonstrated tendency of people who hold false notions to cling more tightly to them when presented with evidence proving them wrong.
After five public hearings from the Jan. 6 committee, it’s particularly relevant. Why it’s mostly conservatives to whom facts are anathema is mysterious, but studies confirm it. In the U.S., those studies are superfluous: it’s undeniable (tinyurl.com/nofacts4u).
So much for the hope that the hearings might disabuse Trumpublicans of their belief in obvious falsehoods. That the election was stolen. Voter fraud is rampant. Mike Pence had the Constitutional authority to refuse to certify electoral votes. Because it’s who Donald Trump is and what he does, it’s unsurprising that he still flagellates those expired equines; in fact, he’s backfiring even more loudly now, incriminating himself ever more deeply in the process. If his party weren’t so irreversibly in his thrall, however, its leaders would have jumped ship after the first hearing and taken their voters with them. But the Backfire Effect is the territory in which they’ve pitched their tents, and there’s no out-house. Committee members have been assigned bodyguards because of death threats.
With the first three hearings still fresh, Texas Republicans approved a party platform that’s Dark-Ages-regressive and exuberantly nasty. First off, they declared Trump the rightful president from whom the election was stolen by fraud. Warmed up, they designated homosexuality a “lifestyle choice.” Sex education of any sort may not be taught at any level in public schools, other than — not kidding — requiring students to listen to fetal ultrasounds. Beyond that, no sex, please. We’re Texan.
https://www.heraldnet.com/opinion/schwab-texas-dont-let-the-door-hit-you-on-your-way-out/
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