How is it even possible that a member of Congress could make such a flagrantly false statement, with nothing to back it up, despite so much evidence to the contrary, and have that statement accepted as factual by a solid chunk of the electorate?

There is no simple answer. Without a doubt, the power of talk radio — along with its digital and visual counterparts — is a huge contributor to the persistent dissemination of lies and half-truths. For the life of me, I don’t understand why congressional Democrats don’t prioritize two reforms that would address this problem:

— Restore the Fairness Doctrine (thank President Reagan for eliminating that) to require balance on any station allowed to access the public airwaves.

— Break up media monopolies, which were enabled in part by the Telecommunications Act of 1996 (thank President Clinton for signing that into law). Continue Reading →