On a Sunday program, Ted Koppel went to a small town that was the model for Andy Griffith’s Mayberry. Koppel ended up riding on a tour bus with 20 people, and began interviewing them as a group. All of them firmly supported various Big Lie elements: 1) The election was stolen; 2) Voter fraud was rampant, 3) Jan 6 was staged, 4) Main stream media only tell lies. They exhibited sincerity and frustration that the media (Koppel) sought to pursue these topics. One lady complained that the media portray Southerners as ignorant idiots. Koppel kept a straight face somehow.
One hears about the right wing believing the Big Lie, but actually seeing it is chilling.
Ted Koppel is always a joy to watch work. He planted his flag on reporting the big story (Hostage Crises) and continues to wave in our time's big story. Isn't that a lovely salute while staying within the metaphor? Ted kind of missed it in this piece but I enjoyed learning of the town. I wouldn't go there but they should do more to dissuade a desire for Mayberry's "feel good" image. The point of fiction is to make the real world's nonsense better seen and rejected. That's the point of the town. These Southern hicks obviously missed that point but they miss the point of life, in general, so that's unsurprising.