I'll admit, even as a "lefty" there are a number of misleading or entirely false stories that have crept their way into my acceptance. I sometimes have to stop myself and think back to a time when something wasn't a conspiracy. It's not difficult to see how the vast majority of people, regardless of your political leanings, are swayed by the constant chatter we're exposed to by any or all sources.

GOP senators are saying they’re being increasingly confronted by constituents who buy into discredited conspiracy theories such as the claim that Democrats stole the 2020 presidential election or that federal agents incited the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Growing distrust with government institutions, from the FBI, CIA and Department of Justice to the Centers for Disease Control and National Institutes of Health, make it more difficult for Republican lawmakers to govern.

As we find ourselves living in a world of karma farming, being paid and trusted as nothing more than an "influencer", and the growing use of AI, I'm certain the worse is still ahead of us. Free Speech is a weapon of mass destruction when the audience is a bunch of numbskulls.

Without a fair and free (from corporate ownership) press doing their part as the fourth pillar of democracy, this democracy is going to teeter and fall.