In early November, Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) posted the above message on social media.

This tweet perfectly encapsulates the Republican party’s fearsome ability to make their constituents vote against their own interests. It’s perfectly crafted – it likens Net Neutrality to the despicable “Obamacare” and purports that the government shouldn’t control the internet. This is the type of thing that makes your typical GOP follower squeal with delight. But it literally means nothing.

In this tweet, “Obamacare” is not referring to the Affordable Care Act. It couldn’t be referring to that, because the analogy would make no sense. “Net neutrality” is the principle that Internet service providers like Comcast should treat all data on the Internet equally, not discriminating or charging differentially by user, content, site, etc. This is anti-monopoly legislation that allows the free market to function properly. It clearly has absolutely nothing to do with the Affordable Care Act, which sought to streamline American health care and expand coverage. In this tweet, “Obamacare” is completely stripped of meaning. It’s a meme — comparing things to it is another way of saying that they are bad. It’s also notable that the phrase following the semicolon is literally a reason why Net Neutrality is good.

It’s interesting to think about what went into constructing this tweet. Ted Cruz is not uneducated — he’s read the Wikipedia definition of Net Neutrality, at the very least. He knows full well that there isn’t really a parallel between Obamacare and Net Neutrality, and he probably knows how crucial Net Neutrality is to maintaining the internet’s ability to give everyone a voice. But he has an agenda to push. His campaign is funded by those big name internet service providers, and their loyalty depends on his ability to keep the cash flowing in their wallets, so he has what, to a knowledgeable person, seems to be an impossible task — he needs to convince the majority of voting Americans that Net Neutrality is bad. He can’t let them know what Net Neutrality really is; if they knew, his case would be hopeless. He has to make them hate it without having any clue what it really is. This is where buzzwords come in handy. Boom, a tweet is born.

There’s a shimmer of hope in that there were quite a few responses to this tweet that read “I’m a devoted Republican, but you’re being an idiot” and “As much as I hate to say it, Obama is right on this one”. The brainwashing isn’t totally complete. If you take anything out of this opinion piece let it be this: never underestimate the power of conniving politicians. In every political issue, one side is objectively better for the world, and the other dodges the truth in hopes that they can meet their goals. I don’t mean to say that the GOP are always the ones in the wrong, even though they tend to be wrong in a more exasperating fashion. Make sure that the truth is what’s important to you, and discover it. Don’t take the word of externally motivated sources.