The shallowness of conservatives' complaints against modern society and its extreme dependency on the Outrage Machine to stay in power was on display on Sunday at the 77th Annual Academy Awards show where Million Dollar Baby collected several Oscars.
Prior to the announcement of Oscar nominations, conservatives signaled that they would be outraged if Fahrenheit 9/11 (winner of the People's Choice Award as Favorite Movie) received nominations. When Fahrenheit 9/11 was left off the list of Oscar nominees, many on the right breathed a sigh of relief and possibly stopped listening to the Outrage Machine.
And without the Outrage Machine serving as a thought minder, people are able to think for themselves and make decisions on their own. As a result people I knew, who last fall had bought into the Outrage Machine, went to Million Dollar Baby with an open mind and ended up liking the movie.
Not knowing they should be outraged by the movie, they weren't, and if fact considered those who brought up the Outrage Machine talking points to be out of touch with reality. Without the thought minders telling them that they should be outraged they weren't. Given the freedom to think for themselves, they thought and weren't outraged.
This is both encouraging and discouraging. Knowing that the conservatives’ hold on power relies on making people outraged against their will shows the weakness of conservatives’ arguments. However conservatives, through talk radio and talk TV, has built an extensive Outrage Machine that, when running, is difficult to counter.
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