from the failing New York Times....'Is It Time to Call Trump Mentally Ill?'

[GliderGuider]

33. I was just writing up a post on this topic!

Yes, there is a schism in American society that appears to unbridgeable. The two sides can loosely be called "Realists" and "Trumpists".

The genesis of the schism goes back to the Powell Memo in 1972 that convinced corporations to get into the social engineering business. The FCC changes mentioned above were one of the outcomes that enabled RW hate radio. Those changes to broadcast media permitted the mass brainwashing of a large number of citizens, until now they truly live in another reality. Their version of reality is now headed by by Trump.

Then Citizens United came along, and allowed the extension of this corporate version of reality into politics. That has resulted in the modern GOP and ultimately Trump himself.

The chasm is unbridgeable without deprogramming the brainwashed sector of the populace - people I have called the "Manchurian Voters". Unfortunately, the deprogramming would require unwinding the changes brought about by the Powell Memo, the FCC changes and Citizens United. Then the economy needs to be made more equitable to undercut their sense of "left-behind" grievance. And finally, once all that is done, the actual deprogramming (if it can be accomplished at all) would probably require another generation and a half - 45 - years to take effect. This time frame is equivalent to the time iut took to brainwash them in the first place.

The Trumpists' problem isn't really stupidity or ignorance, despite what it looks like to us. It's brainwashing. They have been reeducated into a new worldview, and see every event, every idea, through those filters.