He Said. She Said

Our political arena is as dysfunctional as some homes I've visited. Rancor and finger pointing are at an all time high. In the course of three days I read an editorial in the Kansas City Star citing facts proving Joe Biden significantly leaned on Ukrainian political leaders on behalf of his son's involvement in Burisma and then bragged about it, and another claiming to exonerate Biden on the basis of logic. He said. She said. Who's a body to believe?

I immediately began fact checking, and discovered to my dismay, multiple venues offering conflicting corroboration of each claim. Seriously? The truth is black and white, people. A person said it or did it and only the motivation lurks in shades of gray. Each fact-checking company, like each writer and each publication buries its agenda, making it hard to discern the truth. Unfortunately, my research again came down to he said, she said.

Gone is the neutrality and respect for the news outlets. This is nothing new. Fifty years ago discerning readers figured out which newspapers leaned Democratic, which leaned Republican, and reported news was examined through the appropriate filter. But in fifty years much has changed. With the advent of independent news agencies on cable channels blatantly cultivating a single viewpoint, the average American is left wondering just who to trust. He said, she said.

I look at the pattern to try and figure things out. For example: Is the GDP up? Is unemployment down? That tells me something about the state of our economy. I consider quotes which bear the scrutiny of three fact checkers who concur. It is next to impossible for the average citizen to follow the money trail in campaign contributions because of the many loopholes. A candidate can proudly claim to refuse lobbyist donations, but accept smaller corporations' contributions due to a loophole with the same outcome.Tricky! What's a person to do?

In the final analysis, I recommend prayer. Say a prayer and decide what is good for the nation. It might be right. I'm a she, so this is a she said.