Something's been bothering me for a while, probably a lot of you, too...

[jaxexpat]

24. We will lose again and again to mass misinformation if is continues to run unfettered, unlabeled.

We narrowly missed a bullet this time, you know. (They accidentally counted just enough votes to remove Trump.) It's time we dusted off the first amendment, pull it into the light and boldly, open mindedly peruse it.

Is there really a constitutional right to broadcast blatant lies for the purpose of intentionally misinforming the public? Hasn't this abusive tendency always revealed the worst in our body politic, the underlying malefactor of all our most shameful episodes? Isn't that the primary source of the grief we wallow in these days?

If the right to misinform is held sacrosanct then wherein lies the means to disarm it? Does it rest solely in the power of people in their efforts to improve their common lot? Even to the point of violent action? Surely in balancing the weight of importance, the threshold of insurrection is not reached by this. But historically it has. Publicly broadcast lies caused the civil war. Public acceptance of lies broadcast with the intention of emotionally charging people have caused most of the "wars" the US has become embroiled in since its founding. Should this not, then and after all, be remedied in the realm of representative government? Is redefining and reinstating the fairness doctrine a worthy goal?

It could be, I think. If posted along the narrow track, "broadcast blatant lies for the purpose of intentionally misinforming the public".