No shit, Vox.
I like to keep my news updates coming from sources across the political spectrum. That way I can see how stupid everything is.
Let me make this plain: every single human being who draws breath is deluding themselves about one damn thing or another. It’s the universal constant. To act like this is news is to reveal yourself to have the intellect of a child.
Life sucks, and we deal with it by reframing everything into an order that makes sense. Yes, even you.
Wives stay with no-good husbands because they love them. Young girls date awful boys in the belief that they will change. Men stay with cheating wives, even when the child is obviously another man’s. People vote Democrat or Republican in the belief that it makes a difference and that their side is actually on their side.
These are not rational decisions. We are not rational animals. We do things because we have, above all, a need to be happy, and very often we hinge our happiness on things over which we have no control.
The truth is, happiness is not external. It’s about how we perceive the world, and we manage that perception once a day, every day, all day long.
So, yes, people routinely overlook the gross things about politicians when they believe that person is necessary to making sense of the world. This is as old as democracy itself.
If you’re only just noticing it now, you haven’t been paying attention.
