These words, “Pharmacist believed lies,” are the subheading of the St. Louis Post Dispatch’s report of the arrest of pharmacist Steven Brandenburg, an employee of the Advocate Aurora Medical Center in Grafton, Wisconsin, because he intentionally spoiled 57 vials, that’s 500+ doses, of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine. Brandenburg, a devotee of conspiracy theories, tried to destroy the vaccine because he believed the shots would cause mutations in patients’ DNA. The report in the Post concludes: “Misinformation around the COVID-19 vaccines has surged online with false claims on everything from the vaccine’s ingredients to its possible side effects.” We have to hope that misinformation about the vaccine does not lead to others’ deranged behavior.

Now, rewrite this subheading to read “Public believed lies” and you could then go on to write an account of the popular furor about the presidential election. Large numbers of citizens have been tricked by planned programs of disinformation to believe that victory in the election was stolen from Donald Trump. We cannot say that some voters just “voted with their feelings” or that they reached different conclusions from the evidence. The agitated voters were DECEIVED, they believed the misinformation, i.e., the lies, spread by Trump and his supporters.

So, Mr. Brandenburg believed lies and destroyed desperately needed vaccine. A tremendous number of voters believe lies and are trying to destroy our democracy. Of course, Brandenburg and the Trumpies must bear their share of responsibility for what they do, but far greater guilt belongs to those who told the lies that deceived them and to the media that promiscuously or designedly transmitted them. 

We are victims of our “freedoms.” The freedom of speech guaranteed by the First Amendment has been twisted to mean not freedom, but an unconstrained license for speech, however dangerous, however divisive, however obscene, and however false. Similarly, the right to bear arms guaranteed by the Second Amendment has been misconstrued and abused. There are so many unregulated firearms in circulation that any fool can get a gun, and any gun, for any purpose. 

How might Americans go about limiting these “freedoms”? Will we see any public figures who could start the bringing these abuses born of a childish notion of freedom under control. But I think that without some rational constraint, freedom will be our undoing.

I was happy to read that KUOW, an NPR station in Seattle, has stopped live airing Trump’s rallies (a.k.a. “briefings”). They have, they say, not enough time to fact-check Trump’s mendacious ramblings, so they are going to present a post-examination coverage of what Trump has to say. They call Trump’s deceits “false information,” and assert that false information has a disastrous effect on public health and national security. I heartily agree, but I would not use the term “false information,” but would prefer to use the simple noun “LIES.”

His very presence through these briefings is a lie, the lie being that Trump is in charge and is taking prompt and constructive steps to deal with the crises. In the tradition of the “big lie,” he uses his time on the air to keep repeating his lies, ignoring informed contradiction and blocking it out. The improvement of his approval rating suggests that his deceits are having their effect on the Trump addicts and the unobservant.

People in public life need to become far more aggressive in telling the country that Trump is not-to-be-believed and, in a crisis like this, should be ignored.