As a Matter of Fact...

My parents bought a set of encyclopedias before I was old enough for school. I'm pretty sure they're still on the shelf at Dad's house. I don't remember the name--ours was the only set from this publisher I ever saw--but recall they were beautifully and rather ornately bound. By the time I could read, the information between those beautiful covers was largely out-of-date.

Fortunately the schools I attended had good libraries. In grade school the World Book Encyclopedia was the absolute authority on every topic and the ultimate arbiter in any dispute. If it was in World Book, it was indisputably and undeniably an established fact. You can't argue with the facts. End of discussion.

Facts gave way to theories and hypotheses in college. Broad, sweeping statements were challenged and ultimately discredited. Reality, you learn, is a lot more gray than black or white.

There are things we know (facts), things we don't know (mysteries), and things we think or believe to be true about various facts and mysteries (opinions). Trouble comes when spin, distortion and out-and-out lies cause people to confuse facts, mysteries, and opinions.

Take for example the faith and birthplace of our current president. Barack Obama was born in Hawaii and has been a Christian his entire life. These are not mysteries or opinions, but verifiable matters of fact. Yet survey after survey finds roughly twenty percent of the population continue to believe otherwise.

Say what you want but sounds to me like one in five of us has a pretty serious case of stupid. I'm not saying you're stupid if you disagree with Barack Obama. But if you hold on to long disproved lies, well, if the shoe fits...

Intelligent people have different opinions about the available options based on different schools of thought. Would be great to have a reasoned debate about the advantages and disadvantages of the various options. Perhaps by design, that never happens. The lunatic fringe makes too much noise for polite conversation.

How do you solve a problem when you can't even agree on the basic facts? You can't. That's why 535+ members of Congress and thousands of staffers can't do squat to move this country forward. I'm guessing one in five of you are satisfied with things just the way they are. If you're not, speak up. Let your elected officials know you want to see them take as much interest in our country as in his or her political party. Our future depends on it.