Anyone expressing an opinion by writing a letter to the editor might expect some reader to write an opposing opinion. Among the many things I have been called in my long life, satirist is a new one. I looked it up in my trusty Webster and now I will add it to my literary accomplishments.

The use of the word indicates to me that at least some readers have a higher education level than the average fifth grader. I have been told I am writing at a level, which the average reader doesn’t think. Maybe that is truer today then before. Hundreds of times I have read or heard people saying things that only a naive fifth grader might believe. If average American comprehension level has fallen so low then Roger Ailes has won the battle for control of the American mind. Repeatedly he voiced he could control the thoughts of the Fox viewers by lowering the content. I have heard MSNBC was created to combat the Fox agenda. I don’t watch either because I want pure facts, not muddied waters.

In the age of social media and the Internet, correct facts are so rare. Currently we have wackos from the right and left spewing the most stupid, unsupported and inane statements. Along with the people’s lack of fact checking and quest for truth, Russian trolls, and probably soon the Iranians and Chinese will fill the Internet and social media with misinformation and lies to skew public opinion.

Webster says a satirist uses ridicule to attack follies. Those of us who see social media and the internet as a bane on the American moral fabric must be satirists. Who knew that we satirists would be the protectors of sanity and America’s morals?