I just received an email from my Michigan senator, Debbie Stabenow, with an ominous subject line:
BREAKING: Great Lakes Funding ELIMINATED
I know Donald Trump has been threatening Great Lakes funding as part of his irrational drive to find money to build the wall that “Mexico will pay for.” But I was surprised to learn from my senator that he had, somehow, managed to actually eliminate the Great Lakes funding altogether.
So, I quickly read the full message text:
It turns out, the headline was… false! And while I am generally in agreement with my senator that resistance is necessary, I loathe her messaging approach.
Dear Sen. Stabenow,
Okay, I admit it. I opened this email because of the subject line. I was surprised that funding had been ELIMINATED!
Turns out, though, that is not true. Rather, this was just click-bait, which I find extremely annoying.
I am far left, politically, and despise Trump and the dangerous ignorance he represents. I respect critical thinking and evidence-based reasoning.
Please don’t bullshit me with false headlines. Do not sink to the gaslighting techniques that I so detest from the right. You should be better than that.
Sincerely,
— AndyF. Andy Seidl
Ann Arbor, Michigan
There is too much misinformation flying about everywhere. Let’s focus on what is verifiably true and relegate the use of misinformation to the gaslighters of the world.