Note: This post was written in April 2023
Definition of Gaslighting: a form of psychological manipulation in which the manipulator attempts to sow self-doubt and confusion in the victim’s mind. Typically, gaslighters are seeking to gain power and control over the other person, by distorting reality and forcing them to question their own judgment and intuition.
Why does Gaslighting occur?
Gaslighting occurs because some people are compelled to control others, and some people are easy to control. Those who believe life has dealt them a bad hand will listen to manipulators who seem to understand their pain and offer consolation if not solutions. MAGA manipulators, in particular, take their prey from “normal” society and escort them to Republicana. Once in Republicana, they gaslight them endlessly into believing almost anything.
Those living in Republicana will criticize those on the outside who confront them when they repeat demonstrable untruths. Instead of defending and articulating their truths more precisely, Republicana folk resort to emotional and irrational tantrums. Objectively, their “truths” are usually so flimsy and indefensible that when criticized, the extreme Right defensively screams, “We have the right to our truth, and you are canceling us!” They have been conditioned to believe what they believe…and they believe it unquestionably.
To set the record straight, the citizens of Republicana are not being canceled. Their “truths” are simply being criticized or questioned. If a fanatical Democrat says that Al Gore won the election in 2000, an honest response would be, “No, he did not. Al Gore won the popular vote, but some hanging chads in Florida cost him the Electoral College vote.” The response does not cancel the fanatical Democrat; it merely tells him that he is factually wrong.
Most people avoid an incoherent, screaming preacher standing on a soap box in the public square. You could say that his performance is being canceled for the lack of an audience, but he is not canceled…he is being avoided.
To further explore the behavior of those perennially on the wrong side of history, how do they behave after being elected to office by extremist voters in their state? Most elected extremists use gaslighting and propaganda techniques to pass laws that restrict the freedoms of others or allow their citizens to become abortion vigilantes or KGB-like informants. They RESENT their own perceived cancelation and respond with the actual cancelation of rights for others.
A citizen of Republicana might respond by saying, “But those woke people are trying to cancel our right to bear arms.” It is easy to understand why someone from Republicana would fear this. Their friendly gaslighters’ constant bombardment of fear, hate, and paranoia causes them to be trigger-happy and trigger-loving. However, a sane society must control things like drugs, commerce, and GUNS.
The extreme Right reacts viscerally to any “preaching” by the Left. Yet, they are led by Evangelical PREACHERS, politicians, and media moguls who openly lie, defame, and distort political discourse. The gaslighters of Republicana are so craven that they record two sets of “realities.” Like a criminal mob operation trying to avoid paying taxes, extremist gaslighters show their fawning audience one reality 😊 but internally record a secret reality that is more reality-based 😐.
Managing two or more realities requires energy, money, “talking heads,” and organization. All these resources must be used to create a social reality maintenance industry that projects the proper “narrative” to each of the vital captive audiences, media organizations, religious organizations, governmental divisions, and political organizations. The gaslighting organization must carefully control the social realities for each group being “managed” because they constantly fear exposure or becoming irrelevant. Keeping the sheep in the fold is their reason for existence. The sheep will remain as long as they are emotionally committed to their comfortable home in Republicana. Question: What happens when a roof in Republicana starts to leak? Answer: They will respond, “Those woke commies put holes in my roof.” Reminder: Fanatical extremism refers to a person holding extreme views with intense, uncritical devotion.
The MAGA Gaslighting Industry
The puppet masters of Republicana are not crazy or divorced from the real world; they are clever enough to manipulate those willing to follow and be controlled. These masters not only control their minions, but they have also become wealthy beyond belief. When billionaires are greedy and clever enough to trick elderly women living on social security to donate $20 and buy “magic” pillows, they can get rich. However, when someone builds an empire upon lies, eventually, reality bites back. The lies are either exposed, or the liar loses track of reality and believes his own lies.
The perfect example of criminal duplicity is Fox News. As a pretend “news” organization, they profit from their 24×7 spoon-fed pablum to their scientifically targeted minions. The recent defamation lawsuit by Dominion Voting Systems against Fox resulted in a stinging defeat in the real world. Fox was forced to pay almost $800 million. Since Fox News is SOLELY designed to gaslight their audiences, Fox buried their Dominion legal defeat on their website and only mentioned it in passing on their main television channel. The news of the largest libel award in American history was upstaged on Fox News that day by a mob burglary of a gas station outside Los Angeles.
The Dominion case is just the first in a long string of future losses by this right-wing gaslighting factory. Another voting system company, Smartmatic, is suing Fox for even more money. Moreover, the Smartmatic case specifically names the Fox personalities of Jeanine Pirro, Lou Dobbs, and Maria Bartiromo.
To make matters worse, a former Fox producer sued Fox after being coerced to lie in a sworn deposition about the Dominion case. This producer has 90 audio tapes of incriminating evidence. Yikes! Before the Dominion settlement, the judge agreed there was enough evidence to bring the case to trial by rejecting Fox’s primary First Amendment defense. He said, “It appears oxymoronic to call statements ‘opinions’ while also asserting the statements are newsworthy allegations…” Dominion is also preparing defamation cases against Rudy Giuliani, the Pillow Guy, Newsmax, OAN, and Sidney Powell.
Another extreme example of lying for riches is the Infowars huckster Alex Jones. He continues to lie and hide his assets in the Caymans after losing his $1.5 billion Sandy Hook trial.
To reinforce the effectiveness of gaslighting, the more often America’s legal system rules against media organizations like Fox, the more convinced their audience will be that the Deep State is after them and their guns. In today’s bizarro world, even when MAGA media outlets are legally humiliated in court, they win greater devotion from their true believers.
Revealingly, Fox’s primary objectives in their settlement were to avoid going on air to confess that they lied and having to parade their stable of professional liars during a lengthy trial. However, in the next big trial, what if Smartmatic does not settle, forces a lengthy trial, and Fox is forced to send its gaslighters to the witness chair? Fox is all about entertainment and excitement…and that could be very entertaining while the trial lasts! In a world turned upside down, the trial could capture fantastic ratings for the other networks since Fox would not cover it. This is the primary reason Fox would prefer to settle. They want to get rich off entertainment. They don’t want to lose money AND BE THE ENTERTAINMENT!