Steve Benen at The Washington Monthly had a quick post up yesterday (completely with video clip and everything) pointing out that just a few weeks ago, when Conservatives were downplaying the threat involved in downgrading the nation’s credit rating, you could find people like Neil Cavuto, Fox’s vice president of business news, saying things like “I would welcome a downgrade. I really would. I think it would be the pain from which we have a gain.” And yet now that Standard & Poor has in fact downgraded the U.S. debt Fox is telling its viewers that this “is a tragedy that must be blamed on the White House.” Benen concludes with the observation that “[t]here’s a good reason Fox viewers seem so confused so often.”
Benen’s conclusion is correct, of course, but only because it includes the word “seem.” Fox viewers seem confused to people in the Reality-based community, but the fact remains that they are not confused at all. Not if you define “confused” as I do, to mean “uncertain, unsure or puzzled.” I live in a red part of a Red State, and there are plenty of loyal Fox News viewers around here. Something you cannot call these people is “uncertain, unsure or puzzled.” At any given time they have an understanding of their world that is breathtaking for its clarity, and a commitment to that understanding that brooks no doubt or indecision. The only reason their understanding “seems confused” to people in the Reality-based community is because that understanding changes constantly and fluidly as necessary to adapt to whatever change in circumstances presents itself.
