This is not fake news

Once upon a time, I thought the residents of the U.S. were pretty smart. However, of late, I see us slipping, getting lazy and easily manipulated.

The place this is most obvious is in how people gather information and make decisions about voting. We naively rely on the “idiot box” or other screens that barrage us with information, information that, if it is not blatantly untrue, is at least greatly exaggerated. And we actually believe these ads.

People, the Super PACs are not acting in your favor, they are not thinking about what is best for the common man. They are trying to persuade us to do something that is in their best interest — not ours. The PACs can and do spread twisted information to convince you to do something that is to their benefit. This is especially true over the Internet.

All ads paid for directly by the campaign or candidate must have the disclaimer “I approve this message,” all the others put which person/group/PAC paid but they do not need approval of the candidate.

I hope there are others out there who find this alarming. The PACs are preying on our ignorance, manipulating the voters and banking on the fact that we are too lazy to validate their claims. The older generation always said “Follow the money” to find the true motivation. It is true in this case. Notice how the rich are getting richer, the middle class is shrinking and poor are getting poorer. This is not fake news.

Dan Schauer Mukwonago