Interesting topic! It makes me think of a couple of family members who I dearly love. I am shocked, however, when I see some of the FB posts they make where they are "sharing" some REALLY....well.... right-wing reactionary things. They are otherwise intelligent and loving people but some of the most bizarre things come from them, especially in presidential election years. I can, perhaps, see how someone can confuse socialism with communism if you've never researched it/read political history/20th century history/etc - but to REALLY believe that hordes of illegal Muslims are coming in over the Canadian border to infiltrate the country. How certain laws might affect the LGBT community (or, to personalize it, family members like ME for example)? There seems a total disconnect.

I am not saying these things to make fun of my family. There are good reasons why I don't live around them...but what I am saying is I've run across a lot of people like that over the years. There doesn't seem to be a...critical filter, for lack of a better way to put it. Without that filter, it becomes very difficult to make good use of ANY amount of information properly - how can one separate the wheat from the chaff?

On THAT depressing philosophical note, it's time to hit the hay