In her op-ed of Dec. 10 (“Lay this election directly at the feet of Fox News“), Beth Franklin, with good reason, blames Fox News that we are such a badly misinformed citizenry and have elected for president a man so monumentally unfit for the job. But viewers of Fox News and the rest of us share some of the responsibility if we accept uncritically the lies fed to us by the network and the president-elect.

For our democracy to work, it requires, in Ms. Franklin’s words, “an informed, curious and critically thinking citizenry.” The founders emphasized this repeatedly. I would add that it also requires a certain amount of decency, honesty, respect and kindness – virtues the incoming leadership is not known for.

I try to avoid being cynical about human nature because it doesn’t often get us anywhere, but I have to say that H.L. Mencken, the famous newsman of a past generation and the cynic’s cynic, was prophetic when, in 1920, he wrote this about the presidency: “As democracy is perfected, the office represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people … On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart’s desire at last, and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.”

We can do better. Let us all resolve to work harder at becoming that informed, curious and critically thinking citizenry and to make a wiser choice the next time we vote. Our future as a self-governing people depends on it.

Michael Bacon
Westbrook