well, to be fair, i think most fox newsers "believe" the commentary because of identity and a desire to will things into fact, rather than a serious, considered

well, to be fair, i think most fox newsers "believe" the commentary because of identity and a desire to will things into fact, rather than a serious, considered conviction. there's no desire to critique, and folks are generally aware of this, though not always omnipresently in their minds and actions. you see the same phenomenon in church membership too, which legitimizes and reinforces this behavior in secular life. those used to be more compartmentalized, but that seems to have become unbound over the past 40-50 years, with (mostly) republican politicians intentionally blurring church and state for political gain. our education could improve, especially around rationality and critical thinking, but i don't think that will make (or would have made) a large dent in the behaviors of fox newsers. they're largely responding to both an intentional and mutually-reinforced misperception of risk of "others" all around encroaching on their otherwise pure and wholesome lives. it's a totally unfounded risk, but that's beside the point, because the intention is tribalist, not rationalist (similar to maskers who prioritize compliance over risk appropriateness). tribalism is the problem, put to very effective use by the will to power to divide and conquer. an effective contravention is to widen the tribe to include everyone, but that's hard to achieve and maintain.