Right wing moral panic about 'beloved snickers dick vein'

This is real. It was created as a joke that fox news found and ran with. Fox knows that outrage keeps their viewers engaged and they don't care if the target of their outrage is real. There's always something to be outraged about. Most recently the outrage story was the idea that discussing homosexuality is grooming minors for sex.

The manufactured outrage seems like a form of twisted entertainment but I'm always surprised when legislation is introduced to address these fabricated problems. Do people actually believe this?

In this case, the story is so absurd I can't believe they're even trying to make it a talking point. I'm more inclined to believe it's performative outrage designed to make their political opponents feel smug, which they can then use to strengthen their resolve. A big reason Americans elected an inept fascist for president was they felt the opposite party was looking down on them.

Maybe everyone's in on the joke and it's just a form of tribal bonding. People want to join the discourse around a shared idea and it doesn't matter how absurd it is.

Or maybe it's just another in a series of distractions to pull attention away from the fact their leader tried to stage a violent coup?

Maybe it's because they've dehumanized their political opponents to such an extent they believe them capable of this absurdity? This one is a reach. I can believe they've dangerously dehumanized people outside their tribe but having a knee jerk reaction to 'protect the beloved snickers dick vein' reflects worse on them than their opponents and is part of the reason this story is so funny/absurd/dismaying.

So is fox news just desperate for a new thing to be outraged about, is it a long political play, is it a meaningless shibboleth to gather around, or are they serious? Maybe it's all of these things. I'm willing to believe almost anything other than that the republican party considers this a credible threat to their ideology. The alternative is just too depressing.

posted by na on June 2, 2022 19:37