Truth in Media

During our last U.S. presidential campaign and election I was frustrated by the lies and contradictions that surfaced that were neither challenged, investigated, or held accountable for.

Examples of this were many. Here are a few: 

Donald Trump repeatedly referred to Hillary Clinton as "crooked Hillary", "the worst Secretary of state the U.S. has ever had", and said to "lock her up." Sometimes he did not bother to provide supporting data. Should it not be imperative for our national integrity and wellbeing that such assertions be supported with facts or data? Should not the media sort out truth from falsehood regarding such rhetoric? If the media cannot or will not do this, I think it is time for a truth commission to be established which would regularly review all news stories and publish what is truth and what is falsehood. We need an objective standard by which we can make our decisions.

Hillary repeatedly referred to Donald Trump as "unfit for the presidency", "lacking in knowledge of the world and the inner workings of government", and "too temperamental to be in charge of the nuclear switch." Again support for such assertions was noticeably absent. It would be helpful if people who run for office would make available their physical health record but also their mental/emotional health records.

Republicans repeatedly criticized Hillary Clinton for her mishandling of Benghazi, emails using her private server, etc. Congress conducted a half dozen or more investigations but nothing was found that merited discipline (but the accusations persisted). So too with the emails and the report by the FBI. Should not such accusations cease after nothing has been found worthy of indictment?

Democrats pointed to Donald Trumps business entanglements with Russia and his failed business ventures (some of which were tainted by accusations of scamming workers and his bilking of money from students to his university). Could not these thing be sorted out, investigated properly and the findings be reported to the public?

We are fast becoming the famed George Orwellian society of double-speak. I believe in free speech but I also believe in accountable speech. If I tell a lie I should be confronted. The great losers in a society that no longer bothers with truth is society itself. A word of wisdom on this is: "If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other." (Galatians 5:15)

It would seem that society, including the church is ripe for sermons on "not bearing false witness."