Tuesday, September 04, 2012

Where Did Truth Go?

As hard to imagine as it is, I expect this week's 2012 Democratic National Convention will be almost as silly, and almost as short on truth as the GOP's was last week. 

Does it matter? Should deception, misdirection, being short on truth
 and long on misrepresentation be a hard and fast line not to be crossed, and punishable by loss of support? If so, who would be left to vote for? Would it be worth it? How to we hold the reporters, and ultimately the politicians, to a commitment to the truth and ultimately a respect for the voters.

How can we expect the media to hold up a lie for scrutiny when we seem to hang on the lies, eager to drink them in, and forward them all to our friends on social media? We are rewarding their bad behavior. We are encouraging the deception by aiding in its spread, and ultimately in its utility.

If we really want to see that stop, we probably should start with stopping it in ourselves.