Troubling but not surprising.
There's a certain breed of cynical manipulators, like Rudy and Bannon, who've understood for years that for a lot of people we're way past principle.
That's why you never see them make arguments based on principle, only on resentment and fear.
To that end truth and reality are seen as inconvenient impediments to the goal.
There are also a lot of otherwise well-meaning people who have gotten caught up in their manipulations to the point they see everything as tribal.
What matters is the other side losing, and if we need to sacrifice a little of our integrity to make that happen, so be it.
The other side wants to destroy us so promoting a few lies so we can kill them first is a valid trade-off. We'll stop to worry about our souls after we've smitten our enemies.
My issue is with the manipulators, because they're going down this nihilistic path knowingly and for personal gain, and they won't be there to clean up the mess when they're done.
Thanks, Semimojo. I agree with everything you wrote. I really appreciate your post because sometimes I feel as if I’m the only one on FR who hasn’t completely lost their mind. I’ve been called a lot of things (some not very nice) for trying to make people aware of these issues.