At the beginning of the Cold War, the artist wife of the physicist Alexander Langsdorf came up with the image of the “doomsday clock.” It appeared in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists to illustrate the fear of many physicists—including some who had been involved in the creation of the atomic bomb—that a “technology-induced catastrophe” might be terrifyingly close. Midnight on the doomsday clock meant nuclear Armageddon.

The 2016 Presidential Election.

Back in San Francisco in 1967, there was an event that helped catalyze the "Summer of Love" and was variously billed as "Human Be-In" and "A Gathering of Tribes." It featured a variety of beat-hippie poets (Allen Ginsberg, Gary Snyder), popular area rock bands (such as the mostly forgotten Quicksilver Messenger Service), and Timothy Leary at peak guru-ness, proclaiming it was time to "turn on, tune in, and drop out."

It has been commonly observed that polarization in America has increased greatly in recent years. It is hard to disagree, given the rancorous political discourse we witness on a daily basis between the two major political parties, not to mention among many friends and neighbors. However, it is useful to remind ourselves that the current polarization is not completely new or unprecedented in scale.

The verbal nastiness that has shadowed the health care reform debate peaked as the bill rumbled to a finish, with opponents shouting racial epithets and spitting at members of the Congressional Black Caucus while yelling anti-gay slurs at Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass. . . .

When health-care reform passed the House by just two votes late Saturday night, I assumed Speaker Nancy Pelosi had several more votes in her pocket from Blue Dogs who would be there if she needed them. . . .

Have you heard any good news lately? In the clamor of furious partisans, furious weather, and furious rhetoric, it doesn’t seem like it. Random conversations on the bus or in the checkout line, if they go beyond cute shoes or that book I’m holding, often end with sighs and head-shaking. Prices going up, kids don’t listen, can’t afford my mortgage, worried about my health coverage. Wall Street banksters, rotten Republicans, demon Democrats—the world’s a mess.

Fake news is as old as America itself. History will demonstrate that this phenomenon poses no great threat to journalism, or truth in society. It is nothing more than a temporary side effect of the rise of politicians who challenge the establishment in the name of the people. Distinguished Americans from Benjamin Franklin to William Jennings Bryan engaged in the practice we call fake news, and while we may justly deplore their means, their actions demonstrate that the end of fake news is most often a noble one: to serve as a correction to an elite that has grown detached from the popular will.

The path forward for the United States.