There Will Be Truth

The Internet has enabled participatory democracy to an unprecedented degree. But the sad result consists of demagogues on the left and right hurling bombs at each other.

That's not dialogue; that's just being Shia and Sunni. And that's destructive. That endangers democracy, not enhances it.

Both extremes demonize dissent. "Evil" becomes whatever the blogger disagrees with. Reason, rational thought and the well-being of the country are mutilated in the process.

There is more at stake here than the personal catharsis of flipping someone off with the verbal equivalent of an Anglo-Saxon salute.

Opinions are most persuasively expressed when based on solid, factual irrefutable data. Only then do you have a chance at changing minds. Otherwise, you're just preaching to the converted.

I do not intend to preach to the converted. I intend to ask "WHY?"

I intend to challenge the demagogues to "PROVE IT." Give me facts, all the facts or go away and stop wasting my time.

I loathe party politics, the party line, and think both major parties are totally out of touch with the electorate.

Third-party candidates in today's political climate -- whether they be Ralph Nader or Bob Barr -- are just spoilers there to elect the other party's candidate.

I have worked as a top aide for a Democratic state governor and a Republican Congressman and U.S. Senator.
I vote as an independent. My favorite political book is Independent Nation which I have reviewed at this link.
Like most Americans my political beliefs do not follow a party platform.

I believe that a connection to reality is vital and all-too-often missing from the political drones and droids that control the American political landscape.

And like most Americans, I am liberal on some issues and conservative on others.

As a former journalist and university journalism instructor, I am equally offended by the Keith Olbermanns on the left hand and Ann Coulters on the right.

They and their brothers and sisters rant and rouse rabble but rarely rise above the banal. They are demagogues of different stripes: equally annoying, equally flaky and equally useless for making an informed decision.

I am not interested in getting some "journalist's" opinion. I am interested in facts, context and a complete and unbiased picture -- an increasingly scarce commodity.

Like most Americans, I am in nobody's political bag and will never be put into one. That means I cannot be taken for granted.

This blog is about reality and facts. Stay tuned.

Barack Obama - Official Campaign Web Site

Fact Check.Org

John McCain - Official Campaign Web Site

Maplight.org - campaign contributions and how legislators vote

National Journal -- Just the facts

OpenSecrets.Org -bankrolling campaigns

PolitiFact - Non-partisan political fact checking

Snopes.com - The facts behind the rumors

Sunlight Foundation - Illuminating dark political spaces

The Open Congress Project

Truth or Fiction - The largest anti-rumor site

Washington Post Fact Checker - McCain

Washington Post Fact Checker - Obama

Washington Post Fact Checker -Main page