Apparently my neighbors are right wing wackos

[Martin Eden]

17. They think they're savvy to what's really going on

And it's the rest of us who've been conned by the fake news media.

People who've been watching Fox News and listening to Rush Limbaugh have been programmed for decades to believe the kind of nonsense they spouted.

And those rightwing media outlets are gateway drugs to Breitbart, Infowars, QAnon, etc.

They can be nice friendly people who function normally in professional careers. Their beliefs aren't necessarily fueled by inherent hatred and racism. Many religious folk who were raised as conservative Republicans rely on Fow News for information and opinion which is all too often reinforced by religious leaders.

The alternate reality built up over the years forms an ideology which is embraced in full, linking politics and religion. Their belief system of God and country is built on a foundation of lies, but they don't know that. No rational, logical, fact-based argument can dissuade them. They will reject your facts as fake news and simply will not see the glaring contradictions they've embraced.

It's much easier to fool someone than to get them to accept they've been played for a fool.