The High Cost of Hearing Only What You Want to Hear

"According to CBS News, the Romneybots were “shellshocked” by their election loss. Karl Rove melted down in front of Fox News’s cameras and refused to believe it. All across the country, true believers totally lost it. None of them could handle the outcome: Obama won.

To the rest of us, it wasn’t much of a surprise, and for many not even a particularly big deal: the pollsters had predicted a toss-up that could go either way. It went Obama’s way. Shrug. OK, whatever. No shock, no awe, no freakouts to be found amongst the majority of Americans. So why, then, were so many Repubs and other right-wingers blindsided by the results?

Answer: they live in a bubble; watch only the news that fits their views; read only the polls that give them results matching their views; associate only with others who share their views; listen only to those radio screechers that reinforce their views; and viciously attack anyone with whom they disagree, driving them away so that contrarian views do not injure their quivering, delicate earlobes. Pretty soon, the bubble dwellers find themselves living in a filtered environment that continuously reinforces and strengthens their existing preconceptions."

More at the link, helpful in understanding the behavior of the Reeps:

http://bluntandcranky.wordpress.com/2012/11/10/the-high-cost-of-hearing-only-what-you-want-to-hear/