Moronic tea party Hero Completely Falls For Satire Article!

by: Hannah Hochstetler

Victoria Jackson, already well-known for going off the deep end, bit hard on a satire piece published by The National Report. Jackson, a member of the Tea Party’s stable of has-been/never were celebrities, posted on her site from the article, claiming that President Barack Obama would be attending a mosque (location undisclosed) on the morning of the 4th of July, and later would be hosting the annual White House cook-out. Jackson continued her sanctimonious outrage, stating that several high-ranking Muslim leaders were invited to the barbecue. Imagine for one moment, tea party heads imploding among Jackson’s followers.
Victoria Jackson, who enjoyed a small measure of fame during the 1980′s, based her comedic routines on the stereotypical “dumb blonde”. Vapid and bovine in her presentations, she epitomized the stupidity associated with tasteless blonde jokes. Apparently, Ms. Jackson has portrayed this character so well that she has adopted the persona for her very own. The National Report is a known satire site, much like The Onion.  Their stories are full of “tells”, letting the reader know that they are presenting satire. Jackson could have, and should have, done some fact checking of her own, if she suspected that one word of the fictitious piece was actual truth. Instead, she jumped on the story, posting it as “fact” on her site. A veritable barrage of posts from followers and those more inclined to live in reality ensued.
Reading through the comments on Jackson’s site, as well as the comments on the piece on The National Report site is like a sojourn into wingnut mania. “How dare he!”, “It’s like he is doing it on purpose, for spite!”, and of course, the birthers and conspiracy theorists who insist that Obama was prepared from birth to win the presidency, thus ensuring a “commie Marxist” takeover of the American government. And then there is the undoubtedly erudite “Punisher”. This scholarly gentleman commented on The National Report’s site, using all capital letters. He may have found the “caps lock” key, however, spell check still eludes him. He is however capable of spewing the vitriolic rhetoric for which the tea party has become synonymous with. If, as progressive liberals, we begin to doubt the toxicity of the venom issuing from the dripping fangs of the far-right wingnut lunatic fringe contingency, all that we really need to do is peruse through the comments on the original article. I ponder the question, have these eloquent readers ever doubted the veracity of the articles that they are commenting on, or do they take the site as a legitimate, scholarly source of current news? An overwhelming majority of the comments are from readers who apparently believe that the story is “fact”, much like Ms. Jackson. At least on Jackson’s site, logic and reason is represented by those of us who are capable of fact checking. The same cannot be said regarding the original posting on The National Report page.
A theme runs strongly throughout the comments on both sites. While the article itself is taken for truth, facts presented by those who have a more educated view are dismissed immediately as “liberal brainwashing.” This raises the question, why is it so easy for the frothing mob on the lunatic fringe to accept blatant falsehood, without doubt and without fact checking, yet when presented with verifiable facts, denial and invectives rule the day? The answer, at least for me, put quite simply is that the historic election of America’s first African American president, Barack Obama, broke their brains.  They are now incapable of reason or logic. They have crossed over into lunacy, and no amount of rational logic will pull them back. Their illogical racism prevents it.
One suggestion to Ms. Jackson, tea party darling. There are any number of good sites to check facts.  If you still doubt your results, go to the source. The White House has a site, check it for events.  Break away from the rabid open carry sites and militia survival tips, spend a moment before you present satire as truth. Maybe start by looking up the word “satire” in a dictionary. Just a thought.