When Political Lies Get Sanewashed: What Happens When Absurdity Becomes Normal

Reality distortion. Photo by Joshua Rawson-Harris via Unsplash

What Is Sanewashing?

Sanewashing begins with something that makes you say, “What the fuck?” and ends with someone explaining why it was actually perfectly reasonable. It’s not just a mind game; it’s reality distortion on a mass scale. January 6th was a “day of love,” and apparently we’ve all been waiting 200 years for a White House ballroom.

That’s the trick. The outrageous gets translated into the ordinary, the absurd becomes merely “controversial,” and an obvious lie becomes just another point of view. Eventually, the person saying, “Wait, this is nuts,” starts to look like the unreasonable one.

And all this reality-bending takes a toll. For highly sensitive people (HSPs), who tend to notice when things don’t add up and give a damn about integrity, the constant gap between what we see and what we’re told we’re seeing can be just plain exhausting.

How the Absurd Becomes Normal

Sanewashing doesn’t happen because someone tells one outrageous lie and everyone suddenly believes it. It happens in the cleanup afterward.

A politician says something false, extreme, or completely unhinged. Supporters rush in to explain what they really meant. Pundits turn it into a debate. Headlines soften the language. And before long, we’re no longer talking about whether the original claim was batshit crazy—we’re debating the details as though it made sense in the first place.

Hear something often enough and the shock wears off. But the bigger problem is the translation: inflammatory rhetoric becomes “tough talk.” Lies become “disputed claims.” Extremism becomes a “different vision for America.”

We don’t even have to believe the lie. Once we get used to hearing it, it stops sounding quite so much like one.

And elections give us plenty of opportunities to do exactly that.

Why Elections Make Us Feel Crazy

Elections already turn up the anxiety. Every poll is breaking news. Every stupid thing someone say (or posted ten years ago) gets replayed for three days, analyzed by pundits, and shoved into our feeds until we somehow have strong opinions about a county we couldn’t find on a map six months ago.

Then something outrageous happens, and instead of simply calling it outrageous, we watch it get explained, softened, debated, and normalized. We hear what was said, but then we’re told what it meant. We know it’s a lie, but somehow everyone is debating it instead of asking why the hell we’re talking about it at all.

For HSPs, that disconnect can be especially exhausting. We notice when things don’t add up. And when everyone around us seems willing to shrug and move on, it can leave us wondering why the hell we can’t.

Maybe we’re not the crazy ones.

When the Lies Are About Us

It’s one thing to watch politicians lie about the economy, an election, or what somebody said. It’s another when the lie is about us, or someone we love.

For queer and trans people, we’ve watched our lives become campaign material. Which bathrooms we use. What healthcare we can get. What books kids can read. Whether our families count. And, yes, the endless fucking debate over trans women in sports.

Sometimes the repetition itself makes an issue seem bigger than it is. Put it in enough campaign ads, argue about it on enough news programs, and suddenly it feels like a national crisis.

Then comes the cleanup. Something hateful or absurd gets turned into a “legitimate concern,” a “parental rights” issue, or a reasonable “difference of opinion.” The language gets softer and more respectable, but it’s our lives they’re making sound debatable.

How Do We Keep Our Heads Above Water?

I wish I could say I’ve figured this out. I haven’t. I still get sucked into the news, still want to yell at the screen, and wonder how something so ridiculous became the subject of a serious national conversation.

But I’m getting better at recognizing what’s happening. And sometimes just naming it helps.

I don’t have to follow every outrage through three days of analysis. I don’t have to listen to six pundits explain what someone really meant when I heard what they said. And I definitely don’t have to treat every manufactured controversy as though it deserves space in my head.

Some things are just bullshit. We’re allowed to call them that.

Reality Matters

We’re also allowed to stop pretending every lie deserves our consideration. We can pay attention without letting the noise consume us. We can care deeply without chasing every outrage down the rabbit hole.

Eventually, we’re supposed to get tired of saying, “That’s not normal,” and simply stop saying it.

I don’t want to stop saying it.

Elections will come and go. The lies will change. The people telling them will change. But the truth doesn’t stop being true when the votes are counted.

Reality still matters, and it’s on us to damn well fight for it.

Disclaimer: My blog posts are my reflections and thoughts on mental health topics and do not replace therapy or getting support from a licensed mental health professional. The advice provided is general in nature and may not be suitable for everyone. If you are experiencing mental health issues, please seek personalized assistance from a qualified professional.