September 10, 2005
What happened to respect? More precisely, what happened to respect for the truth? Wasn't there a time when the TRUTH mattered? When the TRUTH ended all argument upon its presentation? Wasn't the TRUTH embodied as a standard of times past - those "olden days?"
No, it never was. Only our perceptions of the truth have changed. As younger people we valued truth as we were taught. As we have grown older, we have noted that the truth does not matter to certain people, that the presentation of the truth does not solve arguments like we know it should. In times past, the truth didn't matter then, either. You can read excerpts from newspapers, political discussions, history texts, etc, about how dialog back then was just as rife with truth and lies as it is now. A recent article in US News and World Report about the US Supreme Court detailed how less than 10% of the rejected justices were turned away based upon their competance. The majority were either political casualties or had their character so smeared by lies and libel that they failed the nomination process.
I do not want to digress here into the current SC nomination process. I disdain the circus and am sickened by the admitted attempt to smear Roberts by the left. Rather, I want to focus on the truth.
Over the past generation, we have seen a marked degradation of the presentation of the truth. The Left has triumphed without us being aware! Three factors led to this, but one most effective: 1. The tactic of repeating a lie over and over until the listener begins to believe it; 2. The insertion of Political Correctness into the stream of debate, and the most effective; 3. The litigation of anyone who is politically incorrect.
We might shrug off and laugh at the idiots who say something that is obviously a lie, but the entire debate has shifted onto the Left's territory and we are now playing by their rules. Raising the flag of truth almost always marks us as "politically incorrect." For example, to remind anyone that the Civil War was fought over states rights and not slavery is a no-no. To remind anyone that the KKK is a Democratic institution is a no-no. To remind anyone that the Crusades were a justified reaction to Muslim atrocities is a really big no-no. To remind people that the Minimum Wage was originally a racist jab from "elite" Northern liberals against a black-populated South is a super no-no.
To mention anything about Muslims today will likely get you sued by CAIR (Council of American-Islamic Relations). So many commentators have been forced to retract truthful statements and apologize for them that criticizing anything about Islam is considered a legal suicide wish.
Litigation to enforce political correctness has now become so pervasive that all of us are now fearful of speaking anything that might get us sued. Do we see how the Left has won? We can no longer argue using the truth without fear. We are now scared to tell the truth. Evidence of this fear is everywhere. Note in any number of interviews/commentaries/documentaries/articles that the truth is almost always apologized for in advance. "I'm sorry, but..."
When a Lefty claims that Federal Tax Receipts declined during Reagan's two terms due to the "massive" tax cuts (a lie), do we really need to apologize for presenting the truth? Note: they doubled. Do we really need to say we're sorry?
Why do we need to apologize for the truth? Shouldn't the Lefty apologize for lying? Of course, a Lefty cannot apologize for lying because they don't believe that the truth matters. Therefore, the lie matters even less. The lie becomes merely a method to get people to agree with you. That's why we don't see Lefties apologizing for lying. To them, lying is a means to an end, and the means don't matter. Victory is achieved when they get their "ends." They don't really care what it took to get there. "It is not truth that matters, but victory." - Adolf Hitler, far-left socialist.
As for me, I value truth. Truth is black and white. Only our perceptions create gray areas in how we apply the truth. Further, the truth is universal. Truth does not change for each individual and each individual can know and understand the truth, on his own, without having to be told how to think by someone else.
I will not apologize for speaking the truth, ever. I am sure, without any doubt, that I will offend someone, somewhere, with the truth. Tough. The truth will be told and they'll just have to go cry about it.