The truth

“Whoever is careless with the truth in small matters cannot be trusted with important matters.” – Albert Einstein

I had a boss that loved to say “There are three sides to every story: your side, my side, and the truth.” Now the problem with your boss telling you this is that for whatever reason his side and the truth always seemed to be the same.

We live in a new age. An age where anybody, and I do mean anybody, can create a fake story, with a fake photoshopped picture and pass that story on to hundreds, thousands even millions of people instantly with the click of a button. We also have websites, such as www.snopes.com whose sole mission is to either verify or debunk urban legends, rumors and stories.

Right now a couple of the riveting Hot Topics on Snopes are;

1. Did Meghan Markle’s Dog Accompany Queen Elizabeth to the Royal Wedding? – false

2. Was a Lottery Winner Arrested for Dumping $200,000 of Manure on the Lawn of His Former Boss?- false

3. Was 425-Pound Teacher Suspended for Sitting on Student and Farting in His Mouth?- false

As crazy as these stories sound they are actual stories that appeared somewhere and got passed around until someone had the good sense to see if there was a shred of truth to them by checking Snopes. The problem is that finding out that a 425 pound teacher didn’t fart on a students face doesn’t prevent this story from becoming a “truth” to some despite how stupid it sounds and that is what Trump is banking on.

CBS News broadcaster Lesley Stahl relayed a conversation she had with then president-elect Trump in his office; “At one point, he started to attack the press,” Stahl said. “There were no cameras in there. I said, ‘You know, this is getting tired. Why are you doing it over and over? It’s boring and it’s time to end that. You know, you’ve won … why do you keep hammering at this?’ And he said: ‘You know why I do it? I do it to discredit you all and demean you all so that when you write negative stories about me no one will believe you.’”

I listened to Trumps impromptu press conference today where reporters yell questions at him and he answers the ones he wants off the cuff. Maybe you didn’t realize this but unlike his predecessors Trump doesn’t hold formal press conferences. Since his inauguration he has held just one. With these impromptu deals he can answer the questions he wants and ignore the questions or pretend he didn’t hear the ones he doesn’t want to answer.

When Trump talks he speaks of “many people” and “everyone” but never qualifies who these people are. Like today he said “Everyone is calling it Spygate.” Well in truth, the reason the media is using the term “Spygate” is because they are quoting a tweet from Trump but hey let’s not let the truth get in the way of the facts. All “many people” and “everyone” has to remember, because Fox News is going to pound it into your head, is that this whole “Trump and Russer thing” is a “Witch Hunt” and if he tweets it everyday to “everyone” it has to be the truth.

There is also a fact-checking site like Snopes for political stories called www.politifact.com. Trump has been tweeting and stating to “everyone” that the Russia Investigation has cost the American people $20 million. Never mind that www.trumpgolfcount.com estimates that his golf trips have cost you and I $67 million and counting. I guess $20 million sounds like a nice, round, fat number that rolls off the tongue and is easy to remember. Say it to yourself, $20 million. Can’t you hear “many people” saying it, $20 million. Sean Hannity will say “$20 million” a hundred times tonight, but is it true? Not by a long shot but it doesn’t matter and that is the problem with America today, the truth just doesn’t matter anymore.

I have a sneaky suspicion that after Trump was elected the overall IQ of Americans dropped by at least 30 or 40 points. I tried to check Snopes to see if I could get that confirmed but all I could find was that the chart being passed around on Facebook showing Trump as the second smartest President EVER wasn’t true. Big surprise. But hey it’s a new age, we can’t let the truth get in the way, can we.

The Washington Post Trump Fact Checker: Click Here