Let’s be honest with each other – and with ourselves

by | Sep 7, 2018 | Capitol Review

Public discourse is so polarized today that Americans can’t even agree on certain obvious facts for fear that they may discredit “us” or lend credibility to “them.”

Intellectual honesty is indispensable to self-government.  If we are honest with ourselves, we can determine what is true or factual.  However, that discernment is complicated by agenda-driven journalism that presents facts or allegations selectively and without context.

Let’s consider some obvious facts:

FACT: Donald Trump’s campaign team was willing to find “dirt” on Hillary Clinton by consulting foreign sources, including Russians.

FACT: Hillary Clinton’s campaign team was willing to find “dirt” on Donald Trump by consulting foreign sources, including Russians.

FACT: President Obama and his administration knew that Russians were working to influence the 2016 presidential election but did nothing to stop them.

FACT: The disparity between the establishment media’s treatment of President Obama and of President Trump is undeniable.

FACT: When Obama asserted, with a straight face, “We are probably the first administration in modern history that hasn’t had a major scandal in the White House,” the establishment media repeated his claim as fact.  The “fact-checker” at the Washington Post merely said the statement “needs context.”

So, consider Obama’s non-scandals:

In each of these non-scandals, the establishment media simply reported and moved on without obsessing.  If you believe they would have reacted similarly had these events occurred under Trump’s watch, you’re not being intellectually honest.

Now contrast the current investigation by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, whose mission is defined: “to ensure a full and thorough investigation of the Russian government’s efforts to interfere in the 2016 presidential elections.”

Thus far, the investigation has charged 26 Russians with various crimes related to interfering with the 2016 election.  Paul Manafort and his associates have been charged with financial crimes (unrelated to their work with the Trump campaign) and with lying to the FBI.  Separately, Trump’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen, pleaded guilty to campaign finance violations, which experts argue weren’t even against the law.

None of these charges show any coordination between Trump’s campaign and the Russian government.  The worst that we know is that Donald Trump Jr. met with a Russian lawyer thinking she could provide damaging information about Hillary Clinton.

Yet the media breathlessly covers the Mueller investigation as if discovery of impeachable offenses is imminent.  Concluding that many in the media think it is their mission to overturn the 2016 election requires little imagination.

The Washington Post virtuously declares “democracy dies in darkness.”  But legitimate journalism dies when the media is so obviously biased that they can’t be trusted and Americans get their news only from selective sources that tell them what they want to hear.

Most Americans have very reasonable expectations of the media: to report the all of the facts, no matter which cause it may advance or harm.

Unfortunately, objective reporting is now an endangered species.

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Quote of the Day

People insulated from dangers for generations can indulge themselves in the illusion that there are no dangers.

— Thomas Sowell

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