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Every once in a while, Randall's mask of rational equanimity slips, and we are afforded a glimpse at the seething tangle of acid, resentment, and frustration that forever writhes in his soul. Why "respect"? More to the point, why "grudging" respect? It really isn't that hard to tell when "nothing of importance hinges on the truth or falsity" of a statement. The problem is that for people like Randall, "fact checker" really means "shaman". To them, "fact checking" signifies not the mundane process of verifying information but a magical act of conjuration, by which transcendent powers are invoked against the Enemy. They are baffled and (increasingly) enraged that the Enemy seems to withstand these conjurations. The continued presence of wrongthink is a rebuke to everything they understand about how the world works, and they cannot get over it. It is the same kind of venom that ferments in the heart of an incel.