Democracy Needs the Truth

For over two hundred years, democracy has been the preferred means of government. To attain the lofty goal of self-governance, it is assumed that differences in ideas would nonetheless be rooted in truth. The lack of any semblance of truth threatens democracy, none more significant than the recent disclosure of the Russiagate collusion scandal.

On Monday, the long-awaited Durham report finally dropped. As you may recall, Bill Barr appointed John Durham as a special counsel in 2020 to investigate the federal intelligence activities and investigations surrounding President Trump during the 2016 presidential election, specifically the ‘Russian Collusion’ claim.

And what did the report tell the American people? That Hillary Clinton’s campaign and its minions essentially created this hoax out of whole cloth and, with the help of the FBI and other alphabet agencies, perpetrated this lie wasting 32 million of taxpayer funds on the disgraced Mueller report and another 6.5 million on the Durham special counsel. Not to mention attempting to ruin the reputation and lives of many Trump allies like Carter Page.

The Durham report has recounted how our government gaslighted the public from the highest levels to damage a candidate and influence a presidential election. The report states, “Neither U.S. law enforcement nor the Intelligence Community appears to have possessed any actual evidence of collusion.”  Did you catch that? No evidence of collusion was uncovered, yet an in-depth, comprehensive investigation was launched. Along with the coopted media, the influence of these intelligence agencies gave credence to the made-up story causing a severe blow to true democracy.

The Federalist compiled a list of 61 Hacks, including intelligence operatives, politicians, and so-called journalists that peddled the Russian collusion hoax and should never be trusted again. The list includes current and former representatives from the DOJ, FBI, CIA, DNI, Senate, House of Representatives, CNN, NY Times, Washington Post, CNN, MSNBC, CBS, and Buzz Feed. Even Jake Tapper of CNN (who incidentally appears on the list) had to admit the Durham report “is devastating to the FBI and to a degree, it does exonerate Donald Trump.” 

The Federalist is right. We can no longer trust our government or the media. Our leaders and power brokers intend to subvert democracy by whatever means necessary to hold onto power and control. This is what happens when the moral underpinnings of a society are compromised. Telling the truth is no longer expected or desirable; unfortunately, no one seems ever to be held accountable. When the lies are so repetitive and incessant, weak-minded people begin to believe them, and just like Joseph Goebbels, the infamous Nazi propagandist, was known as saying, if you tell a lie often enough, people will begin to believe it.

Here are some other whoppers that have been perpetrated on the American public in the last few years:

• Covid originated in a wet market in Wuhan
• Two weeks were needed to flatten the curve
• The Covid mRNA shot was safe and effective
• Masking helps stop the spread of Covid
• The 2020 presidential election was the most secure in history
• Joe Biden got 81 million votes – the most of any president
• The Hunter Biden laptop was Russian disinformation
• The withdrawal from Afghanistan was a logistical success
• Our southern border is secure
• Inflation is transitory
• The United States is a systematically racist country
• White supremacy is the biggest threat to democracy
• Religious nationalists are domestic terrorists
• Climate change is an existential threat to the planet
• You can chemically and surgically change your gender
• Abortion doesn’t end a human life
• The FBI doesn’t target Pro-life citizens

A familiar adage applies here: ‘Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me.’