Progressive Thinking

Disinformation spreads because people want to believe it. The nation drowning in ignorance, anger, and fake statistics that sound believable only because they confirm what people already think.

LAKE GENEVA, WI - There is a line from an old Simon and Garfunkel song that says, “A man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest.” That one sentence perfectly sums up what has happened to truth in America. People don’t just fall for lies anymore. They run toward them, wrap themselves in them, and scream them from the rooftops as if ignorance is something to be proud of.

I saw one of those viral posts making the rounds online. It claimed that 43 percent of food stamps go to illegals, that 95 percent of murder warrants in Los Angeles are for illegals, and that 66 percent of births in California are to illegals on Medi-Cal. Every single one of those numbers is a flat-out lie. Not slightly off. Not debatable. Just plain false. But people keep sharing it because it fits what they already want to believe.

Here’s the truth. Undocumented immigrants are not eligible for food stamps, regular Medicaid, or most federal programs. PolitiFact found that only about 15 percent of births in California involve undocumented mothers on Medi-Cal. There is no evidence that almost all Los Angeles murder warrants or half of all gang members involve undocumented people. These claims are fake, invented to stir anger and fear. And it is working.

Disinformation spreads because it feeds ego and prejudice. It gives people permission to blame someone else for their problems. It tells them they are right and everyone else is wrong. It requires no thought, no curiosity, and no effort. It is the fast food of information.

And too many Americans are stuffing themselves sick with it.

People don’t question anything anymore. They hear something that fits their bias, click “share,” and move on, thinking they have just done their patriotic duty. They haven’t. They have just become another cog in the machine that keeps ignorance alive.

This kind of willful stupidity is not harmless. It poisons our democracy. It divides communities. It makes enemies out of neighbors and turns compassion into contempt. The truth has been replaced by whatever version makes someone feel good about being angry.

If we want a future built on facts, then we have to stop rewarding lies. We have to stop confusing opinion with evidence. And we have to stop pretending that truth is something we can bend to fit our feelings.

The truth does not care what we believe. It stands there, solid and stubborn, waiting for us to grow up and face it.

Author's Note: I am so sick of seeing garbage statistics passed around like gospel. Lies dressed up as facts are poisoning this country because people don’t bother to question anything anymore. If something fits their bias, they believe it. If it feeds their anger, they share it. No checking, no thinking, no shame.

It’s time to stop rewarding ignorance. I just wrote a new blog called “The Truth Gets Lost in the Noise: How Disinformation Feeds the Willfully Ignorant.” If you’re tired of seeing false claims about immigrants, politics, or anything else being spread like wildfire, you need to read this.

Donald Trump didn’t just spread a few conspiracy theories — he made them his brand. From birtherism to election lies to QAnon insanity, he dragged America into the gutter for his own ego. He isn’t a hero. He’s Enemy Number One — the greatest threat to truth, democracy, and basic human decency this country has ever seen.

LAKE GENEVA, WI - If there’s one thing Donald Trump has perfected, it’s poisoning America with a steady diet of conspiracy theories and outright lies. He doesn’t just flirt with them — he worships them, uses them, and feeds them to his followers like rotten meat. He knows exactly what he’s doing: inflaming hate, weaponizing ignorance, and ripping the country apart for his own personal gain. And the worst part? His cult still treats him like a savior — when he should be recognized for exactly what he is: America’s Enemy Number One.

It started long before he even ran for president. Trump was the loudest, most shameless promoter of the racist birther lie — falsely claiming Barack Obama wasn’t born in the United States. He clung to that garbage because he knew it would stroke the ugliest resentments in this country. He wasn’t fighting for truth — he was exploiting hatred for personal fame. He built his entire political career on a rotten, racist foundation.

When he lost the 2020 election, Trump didn’t act like a man. He acted like a sniveling coward, screaming “fraud” without a shred of evidence. He unleashed a flood of lawsuits that got laughed out of court, even by judges he handpicked. But he didn’t care about facts — he cared about holding onto power. He whipped his base into a frenzy of rage, leading to a deadly insurrection on January 6 — all because he couldn’t stand to lose.

He wasn’t trying to “save America.” He was trying to burn it down if he couldn’t own it.

Then there’s the absolute lunacy of QAnon — the conspiracy fantasy that Trump was some secret warrior fighting a ring of Satan-worshipping pedophiles. Instead of denouncing this garbage, Trump nodded and winked at it. He basked in their worship because that’s all he ever cared about: loyalty to him, not loyalty to truth, not loyalty to democracy, not loyalty to anything but his own bloated ego.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, while Americans died by the thousands, Trump lied, downplayed, mocked, and spread junk science. He pushed bogus cures like hydroxychloroquine, suggested people inject bleach, and turned lifesaving precautions into political punchlines. He sabotaged the national response because he couldn’t stand the pandemic making him look bad. Every lie cost lives. Every reckless word made America weaker. And Trump? He didn’t lose a wink of sleep over it.

He’s also the king of Deep State paranoia, turning every government agency, every scientific expert, every institution built to serve the people into “enemies” simply because they wouldn’t lie for him. Trump didn’t want advice. He wanted yes-men. He didn’t want the truth. He wanted adoration.

And if you think he’s slowed down since then, think again. Trump is still pushing conspiracy garbage even now.

In 2025, he used a U.S. government website, Covid.gov, to promote the COVID-19 lab leak theory, turning what should be a source of scientific information into a billboard for his pandemic lies. In the run-up to the 2024 election, he also backed a Heritage Foundation report pushing the insane theory that Joe Biden would refuse to leave office if he lost — another baseless lie designed to stir fear, anger, and more division. He planted the seeds of chaos long before a single ballot was cast, once again proving he would rather tear the country apart than risk losing fair and square. And even now, in 2025, the wreckage of those lies still hangs over America.

He’s embraced the QAnon cult even tighter, openly considering Kash Patel — a known QAnon sympathizer — for FBI director. That’s right: Trump isn’t just winking at extremists anymore. He’s ready to hand them real power.

He even reopened the door to JFK assassination conspiracy theories, declassifying thousands of documents just to throw another bone to the conspiracy-obsessed crowd, knowing full well it would stir even more mistrust and division.

Let’s be brutally clear: Climate change? Called it a hoax. Systemic racism? Pretended it didn’t exist. Economic injustice? Doubled down on it to line his pockets.

Trump doesn’t care about this country. He never did. He cares about himself — period.

Donald Trump is not the hero his cult imagines. He is not a “fighter” for the people. He is not a champion for freedom or truth.

He is a con artist, a divider, a destroyer — and he deserves to be remembered for what he truly is: America’s Enemy Number One.

A man so dangerous, so corrosive, that no amount of time or spin can erase the damage he’s done. He didn’t just betray his office. He betrayed truth itself. He betrayed the American people. He betrayed the very idea that facts, reason, and honesty should matter.

And anyone still propping him up, still swallowing his lies, is helping him tear this country even further apart.