To the Editor:

A couple of weeks ago, Congressman Kevin McCarthy gave Tucker Carlson exclusive access to over 40,000 hours of surveillance footage of the U.S. Capitol Building from January 6, 2021 – the day that thousands of rioters broke into the building, leading to several deaths. Carlson then carefully chose scenes that did not show any violence in order to say that it was actually a peaceful day. Now our House Representative, Elise Stefanik, is saying that this proves that January 6 was all a sham and a “dishonest narrative.”

I have one question for people who still support her and the party that she represents: How bad do the lies have to be before you start to see through them?

Fox News and the right-wing media ecosystem have been spoon-feeding you this sort of misinformation for nearly a decade now. You’re the only ones who believe it. You have probably lost friends because your view of the world is based on a version of reality that has been distorted to stoke your outrage against a political ideology, and then vote accordingly. You may even have family members who have distanced themselves from you or who don’t talk to you anymore because your political views have become a part of your identity.

You may have noticed that, when you talk about politics, you struggle to convince anyone that you’re right. Either they already agree with you, or it seems like nothing that you say can bring them around.

That’s because everything that you do say is based on a version of reality that is built on lies, just like the one that Tucker Carlson and Elise Stefanik are now spinning about the riots of January 6. For people who do not already believe in that fictitious world, it is incredibly easy to see through it. It’s abundantly clear that it’s just politicians and pundits using cultural issues that you’ve been primed to feel strongly about so that you’ll vote to keep them in power.

For those who are in this fantasy world, where Democrats are evil communists, being “woke” means something negative rather than being a decent human being, and where children need to be protected from drag shows but not assault rifles, how long will it take for you to realize that you’re being played?

Sean Myers
Potsdam