"And as much as the right’s critics might prefer an understanding of what’s happened to our politics that flatters their intelligence, the challenge we’re facing isn’t that millions of hapless and benighted yokels have been bamboozled by disinformation..." https://newrepublic.com/article/161266/qanon-classism-marjorie-taylor-greene

"It’s that millions of otherwise ordinary people from many walks of life—including many who went to and even excelled in college—have a material or ideological interest in keeping the Democratic Party and its voters from power by any means possible." https://newrepublic.com/article/161266/qanon-classism-marjorie-taylor-greene

The short version, and it's one all decent people of good intent should take to heart:

Republicans aren't stupid. They're evil.

Look, *some* of them are stupid, too.

But they're not doing what they're doing because they're stupid, and they're not doing what they're doing because they've been fooled.

They chose to be fooled, because being fooled is what facilitates the evil shit they want done.

From the article: "Democrats should try campaigning on the truth: The Republican Party is controlled by intelligent, college-educated, and affluent elites who concoct dangerous nonsense to paper over a bigoted, plutocratic agenda and to justify attacks on the democratic process."

Republicans believe lies, not because they are uneducated, or ignorant, or stupid, or fooled.

They believe lies because it is menacing to see your family and neighbors believing lies—the more obvious the lie, the more menacing the sight—and they enjoy menacing people.

The more unfit Trump proved—incompetent, cruel, dictatorial, stupid, mean, embarrassing, destructive, hateful—the more they loved him, not because they're stupid, but because the sight of your family and neighbors loving such a man is distressing, and they want us distressed.

The one good thing about the last five years is, everybody pretty much stood up for what they are.

We all pretty much know where people stand. I can choose to pretend I don't, but that also says something about where I stand, and everyone will know.

It's not stupid. It's evil.

My answer: it's not our responsibility to cure evil people, nor is it an appropriate goal.

It's our job to oppose them on the behalf of those they would harm. Part of that opposition involves being open to helping them if they want to cure themselves. https://twitter.com/MistyGComics/status/1358403544307671040?s=20