I’m as surprised as anyone that there hasn’t been any sign of a swift backlash to these efforts behind closed doors, but I fear this gives our enemies too much credit. As others have commented, the Republican party is now controlled by people who have been steeped in the paranoid conspiratorial ideology fostered by past generations of conservative leadership in the hopes of maintaining a pliant base. They actually believe the absurd, ahistorical, contradictory things they say. I think it’s more likely the doddering remnants of the old guard are too complacent, too accustomed to having their way with things, to react quickly enough to maintain this propaganda apparatus.