They don't care one wit because they are "belief people" (a label I coined in something I posted
http://january6th.org/post_of_the_week.html#pmk">on Salon a couple years ago).
Belief people come to their beliefs by looking to others. They adopt conclusions and don't need to know the basis. Beliefs are beliefs, not theories. Listen to Rush for 10 minutes (if you can stand it), he just spouts a series of "conclusions." There are no "cases." (He also says "We know" alot, so of course listeners can take what he says as given.)
For knowledge people, things need to add up. Their beliefs (conclusions) are theories that are constantly being tested against the facts at hand and logic. They figure out how things fit together and fill in gaps as they seek to understand their world.
A belief person has no problem holding contradictory beliefs because the beliefs have been adopted in isolation. They believe it because they've been told it is so. They don't need co-existing beliefs to be consistent because there is no "theory" to test them against. They know what they know.
And, if they come to believe that "everybody knows" something then they believe it too, even if they believed the opposite yesterday.
Ever wondered why polls sometimes turn on a dime? I think those giant swings are belief people flipping. There is no need to spend time reconstructing the basis to reach a new conclusion. When some critical mass is reached and enough people have adopted a belief, that belief spreads like wildfire.
My description of "belief people v. knowledge people" is nothing more than a "working hypothesis." What goes on in people's heads is a "black box." But the hypothesis does seem to explain and predict what I've observed. I don't think anybody is 100% belief person or 100% knowledge person is all aspects of their lives. but it does seem that in the political realm there really is a dichotomy.
Whether or not the "belief person/knowledge person" hypothesis is true, it saves me a lot of frustration and grief. It also gives me hope. We don't need to inform or educate "everybody" -- we shouldn't even try. They'll believe what they believe. We need to stop validating them by engaging with them. If they notice that "everybody knows" something is crap, they'll "know it" too.
Posted some additional thoughts on the related "authoritarian personality" in
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=108&topic_id=125546&mesg_id=125794">Post 14.