Fake News is Nothing New

Fake news is nothing new in American politics, which has always been a blood sport in this country. In the ratification fight over the Constitution in 1787-88 the back and forth was principled, but also vicious, personal, with endless prevarications on both sides. For example, the Antifederalists disseminated a newspaper article that alleged that John Jay, an arch-Federalist, had switched to the Antifederalist side---totally false. Federalists gave back as good as they got. The political blood started flowing before we became a country.