In other words, the stupid can't be talked out of stupidity.
In studying the persistent rumors that Barack Obama is a Muslim, political scientist Brendan Nyhan makes the academic case that getting your allies to lie about your opponents can be a very effective political tactic.
In fact, his new working paper finds that Obama's attempts to correct the myth actually may backfire among Republicans.
Matthew Yglesias: "At the end of the day, it's extremely difficult to actually counter misinformation, and so society needs there to be disincentives to spreading it."
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