At yesterday’s confirmation hearing for Secretary of Homeland Security-designate John Kelly, New Hampshire Senator Maggie Hassan asked a tough question:

“Two weeks ago The Washington Post reported that a hacking group connected with the Russian government managed to infiltrate the Burlington Electric power company in Vermont.”

The question is tough because the incident didn’t happen. It was quintessential #FakeNews put out by the Washington Post to get clicks. The computer in question was a standalone computer not connected to a “grid.” The malware appears to have been accidentally downloaded. It was a huge nothingburger. Yet, once this incident entered Hassan’s conscious (to the extent that such a thing exists) it became fact because it came from the Washington Post.

When one lays this alongside the utter sh**storm of #FakeNews set off by BuzzFeed last night two things become obvious very quick. First the source of #FakeNews is not “Macedonian teenagers” (yes, I deliberately used the BuzzFeed link), it is mainstream news outlets allegedly staffed by journalists. Secondly, the most dangerous and influential consumers of #FakeNews are not Trump supporters. They are the liberal media and Democrat politicians.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the Reality Based Community™.