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Tim Mannello
Williamsport
For decades now, there has been more than enough reliable information out there showing that Donald Trump was/and remains unfit to be president. With each passing year, more and more information has come out and is publicly reported that makes the case about his unfitness more and more compellingly clear. In my opinion, the health of a democracy depends on electing fit leaders, that is, leaders who embody moral integrity, loyalty to the Constitution, and competence to govern effectively.
Yet this past election, a majority of voters did not act on all the readily available information that Donald Trump did not have these qualities… Why not? What are the possible reasons?
1. People did not know about it?
2. People did not care about it?
3. People did not make their choices on quality information but did so on the basis of the contrary dis/misinformation that has, in Steve Bannon's phrase "flooded the zone with sh..t" from MAGA-rich sources like X, FOX, TikTok and other algorithm-driven social media, Sinclair Communications and other conservative talk radio and podcasts.
4. Something else?
I think that all three reasons and possibly others not cited above are true to some extent, but that #3 is the biggest reason why people elected Trump. A majority operated on information they firmly believe is true but isn't. For them propaganda replaced evidence-based facts as the justification for their choice.
For them it was not a matter of not knowing what they are doing. It was a matter of knowing and believing information that is not true and acting on it. These voters firmly believe their own "truth" has set them free.
And now that MAGA media has overtaken mainstream media in reach and influence, no one is going to convince them otherwise. As Mark Twain once cautioned: "It is easier to fool people than to convince them they have been fooled."