I just finished reading the Brookings/PRRI survey on immigration reform, which has been misreported as proof that Fox News is America's most trusted news source.

What the survey proves is that Fox News is successfully lowering the IQs of millions of True Believing conservatives, whether they call themselves Republicans or not.

From the survey:

• Only 42% of Republicans who most trust Fox News to provide accurate information about politics and current events support a path to citizenship, compared to 60% of Republicans who most trust other news sources.
• Only 12% of Americans who most trust Fox News for accurate information about politics and current events correctly believe deportations have increased.
• Among Republicans, there are major differences in views of immigrants between those who say Fox News is their most trusted news source and those who do not. Six-in-ten (60%) Republicans whose most trusted news source is Fox News say that immigrants are a burden, while one-third (33%) say immigrants strengthen the country because of their hard work and talents.
• Those who say Fox News is their most trusted news source are far more likely than Americans who most trust other news sources to say the number of immigrants coming to the U.S. illegally has increased recently. Americans who most trust Fox News are the only group among whom a majority (64%) believe the number of immigrants coming to the U.S. illegally has increased.
• Americans who most trust Fox News are less likely (46%) to favor allowing immigrants living in the country illegally to become citizens, while 19% favor allowing them to become permanent legal residents, but not citizens, and nearly one-third (32%) prefer to identify and deport them.
• Only 42% of Republicans who most trust Fox News support a path to citizenship, compared to 60% of Republicans who trust other news sources. This pattern is also evident among political independents. Although more than 6-in-10 of independents support a path to citizenship overall, only 48% of independents who most trust Fox News say they support this policy, compared to 66% of independents who most trust other television news outlets.
• The most trusted news source for deportation supporters is Fox News, with more than 4-in-10 (41%) saying it is the television news source they trust the most to provide accurate information about politics and current events, followed by a quarter (25%) who say broadcast network news, and 13% who trust CNN the most.
• In contrast, identifying as Republican, being a born-again Christian, and most trusting Fox News as an accurate news source all predict opposition to immigration reform that includes a path to citizenship. Among these negative factors, trusting Fox News exhibits the strongest effect, dwarfing Republican identification. Americans who most trust Fox News are about half as likely to support immigration reform as Americans who trust other news sources. Notably, once controls are included for trust in Fox News, being Republican has only a modest impact on opinions about immigration reform.

There's more. Much, much more. The only reason Fox News gets the highest percentage of trust among all the different news sources is because conservatives trust it above all other news sources on a near-unanimous basis. Liberals, on the other hand, have a variety of news sources they trust, so the percentages are lower overall.

There is one reason this country is stuck in an endless loop of obstruction and hate, and that reason is Fox News. If the results of this survey doesn't prove that, have a look at others with similar outcomes.

Fox News must die. It must either die with Roger Ailes and Rupert Murdoch, or it must die from a lack of current viewers. But however it happens, it must die, because if it doesn't, it will destroy the shreds of American democracy that remain. It's not enough for us to keep shouting about them, or Media Matters to point out how wrong they are on so many levels. Their death must be the result of visceral rejection.

I don't know how to do it yet, but I guarantee you I'm going to give it a lot of thought. We can't afford the stupidity that comes with their echo chamber.