No one listening to local radio station KFYI expects to hear anything approaching the truth.

After all, this is a station that has featured Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Glen Beck and Michael Savage, all practitioners of the Half Truth.

But complete fiction?

Leave that to the locals, in this case, the station’s morning guy, Jim Sharpe.

Who yesterday ranted and raved for a full segment about Tucson state senator Linda Lopez.

Her crime?

An about to be published magazine interview where she ripped into the military, including servicemen, at one point in the interview saying that the troops “can go bleep themselves.”

One problem.

It was all made up.  No interview.  Fictitious magazine.

In fact, the source was a so-called satirical website.

To his credit, Sharpe had Sen. Lopez on this morning and apologized profusely for his terrible mistake.  Good for him.

But why did he make that mistake?

Because he wanted to believe it.

It conformed to his view of the world — or at least the view he wants his listeners to believe.

So when a Democrat goes off on the military, it fit with his narrative that Democrats are anti-military.

And instead of doing some research (which, by the way, would’ve taken less than a couple of minutes — I googled “Linda Lopez” and “military” and one of the first sites noted that the story was on a satirical website), Sharpe bought it.

Shabby broadcasting at the least.  You gotta wonder if the radio station’s going to punish Sharpe for his poor work.

My bet?  No way.  Fiction rules at KFYI, after all.