This is a national election year, with the Presidential election coming up in November, and regardless of party affiliation, it seems everyone is hyper-sensitive about the messages their receiving from the media, the candidates, and celebrities.

Case in point – Garth Brooks.

For several years now, awards shows have become one political speech after another. Interspersed with “thanks to my mom and dad, and my agent,” are messages delivered by Hollywood’s elite regarding world hunger, military involvement in foreign countries, and most recently, drinking milk. Thank you, Joaquin Phoenix, for that lecture.

But now, Oklahoma native son Garth Brooks is being criticized on social media for making a political statement, that he never made. This recent incident gives credence to the fact that there are lunatics on both sides of the political debate.

Brooks was performing in Detroit last week and chose to honor a great football player who both played at Oklahoma State University, the college Brooks also attended, and then played for the Detroit Lions in the NFL. Brooks wore Barry Sanders No. 20 Lions jersey on stage. So, his thinking must have been, “I’ll win the fans over by not only honoring my friend from OSU, but one of their local heroes.”

Well, some fans didn’t see it that way. Many interpreted the last name on the back of the jersey to be referring to Democratic Presidential candidate, Bernie Sanders, and the No. 20 representing the campaign year.

Oh, what idiots!

It wasn’t just Trump supporters making this assumption, although they may have been the most vocal. One person replied on Brooks’ Instagram account, “I had no idea you were a big freaking liberal socialist! I’ve listened to your songs for the last time.” Someone else wrote, “If this is truly Garth, you just lost a fan.”

Even some on the other side blasted Brooks for supporting Sanders over some of the other candidates, and some even complimented Brooks.

“I know it’s Barry Sanders, but I can see Garth liking Bernie,” and another wrote, “Glad to see Garth is feeling the Bern.”

In the immortal words of Ricky Ricardo, “Aye-yi-yi-yi-yi.”

And to think these people may go to the polls and vote.

Showing a sense of humor, Barry Sanders tweeted, “Hey @garthbrooks want to be my VP? #Number20for2020”

Brooks responded, “Hey @BarrySanders I would run any race with you!”

The Detroit Lions even got in on the act with a tweet that said, “He’s got our vote!” and had a photo of Sanders in his No. 20 jersey, with a caption of “Barry 2020.” The party symbol on the photo was a GOAT, which in popular vernacular stands for Greatest of All Time.

Sanders, Barry not Bernie, was certainly one of the greatest running backs to ever play in the NFL, and how so many people just totally didn’t have a clue about the uniform that Brooks chose to wear in Detroit, no less, is baffling to me.

However, with social media the way it is these days, most people comment and broadcast their opinion to the masses before they ever do a little research, or study the facts. There’s a word for that, ultracrepidarianism. (If you don’t know that word, look it up.)