Facts Matter

I just finished reading "This Is What I Think: Traditional Marriage Perverts the Tradition of Marriage
http://goo.gl/yMsk"

I am reminded after reading this blog post from 2008 regarding the historical facts about marriage, that the political discourse we are all subjected to by the media's reporting is about opinions. Facts have no place in what we are often expected to swallow. How often are Democrats or Republicans or someone else challenged for stating a blatant untruth by the reporter? Why do the old media outlets emphasize two sides to every issue when life is so much more complicated than that?

Facts matter.
Politicians of all political stripes schmooze, distort, and outright lie at times. Most of us realize and expect that to be the case. Much of what passes for our protectors within the old media, the folks who used to do investigative reporting and fact-checking, either no longer do so or they fail to share it with us. (Yes, there are some exceptions of good reporting available but I'm ranting here.)

It seems to me that in the current environment if a politician said the sky was really green, he or she would be given equal time with an opposing politician who stated that no, the sky is indeed blue. Both positions do not deserve equal time because one is factual correct and the other is not. The facts can and should be independently investigated by our media.

Sadly, we have significant challenges facing us in this country and this world and we should know what the facts are as we seek to determine how to respond. Alas, until we stop feeding the media outlets that give us opinions rather than facts, I fear we will continue to be polarized as a nation.

OK, my rant is over.