Copernicus copped it when he claimed the planets revolved around the sun. Although back then it was named heresy. Galileo was sent to the Inquisition when he too saw the earth was round. Faker. Climate science? Fake research.

We’re back there again. This year "fake news" has gone from a term meaning hoax or propaganda, to a label hurled at any reporting of facts you don’t like.

In the USA Mr Trump, whose triumph was assisted by the fake news phenomenon, now turns the accusation around on actual reportage. Clever politics? More like a long bath-drain-sucking noise as reality itself disappears up its own black hole.

Yes, reality: some of us still believe in a world exists outside our own mind, beyond our social media circle. Don’t we?

Fake news  – I’m talking about the genuine fake news, not the real news accused of being fake – works if it plays the right tune, confirming someone’s ideas or fears.

But we're all savvy now, we know the difference between spin and truth, right?

Maybe, but we all get fooled sometimes. Remember that once-great nation just north of Mexico that used to make things, saved the world once or twice and gave us rock'n'roll, basketball, John Coltrane, protection of free speech and cinnamon gum?

Latest polls show how Divided are the States of America. Trump's disapproval rating among Democrats is 82 per cent. Among Republicans his approval rating is 80 per cent. Slightly surprising. But here’s the killer: approval/disapproval among independent voters is 43 per percent each way.

The boss’s willingness to say anything, true or not, appears to make little difference. The partisans get more so, regardless of what is said or done. And I will keep humming along to Simon and Garfunkel: Still a man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest … mmm hmm hmmm …

Ben Langford is a Mercury journalist. Find him on Twitter @BenLang44