(Letter to the Editor - Photo Illustration - MetroCreativeConnection)

Once there was a time when a man convicted of multiple felonies and under indictment for many more wouldn’t have a snowball’s chance in hell of becoming president. There was a time when Christians would never vote for a man with a long record of sexual assault. There was a time when people would never trust a compulsive liar with the immense power of the presidency.

So what has changed? The only thing I can figure is the coming of the internet. The internet is a very useful tool for finding information, but it’s also a cesspool of misinformation; big lies and little lies. Anyone can say anything with no proof at all. And AI can make it look real convincing.

America has a lot of enemies. There are far-right domestic anarchists who don’t believe in government, unless it can be used to enrich them. There’s Russia, China, Iran and North Korea, who can and do post anything to undermine our democracy. Where all the lies come from can’t be traced. Their goal is to weaken America and to some extent they’ve been succeeding.

Too many voters only get their news from unreliable online sources. They only go to where they know they’ll hear what they want to hear.

We’re not helpless, though. There’s all the established mainstream media sources with real journalists who try hard to get it right. Fox News is not one of them. And there are the fact-checkers: Politifact, FactCheck.org and Snopes. They hate to get facts wrong. Their reputations depend on them getting it right.

Don’t let the liars convince you that Democrats keep the border wide open or that Democrats want to take away our guns or that all politicians are crooked anyway. Lies, lies, lies.

At least as of now we still have the vote. Use it.

William Dwyer

Glenville