And it's horrifyingly effective. That line in Iron Man where Downey Jr. demonstrates blowing up a mountain range and says "That's how dad did it, that's how America does it, and it's worked out so far" is possibly the most chilling line in the whole Marvel series. We're talking about how people get medicine and how we fund roads and Tucker Carlson is making a fortune drumming it into his viewers that this is the same thing as being in a five-generation Red Sox family, and now you won't see your sister at Christmas because her husband's family goes for the Yankees. Anyone who still hangs up a painting of Lincoln and thinks "That was a great Republican" may as well be hanging up a picture of Joe Namath. Yeah, it's so fucking stupid it's exhausting to go through cycle after cycle. Which, of course, is partly the point.