To Tell the Truth

Long before we got our first color television, we all gathered around the TV to watch one of the most popular shows of the day “To Tell the Truth”. The show, hosted by Bill Collyer, had four panelists who by asking a few questions were to determine who the real person was among the three persons who claimed to be real. Of course two were imposters and were lying. The real person had to tell the truth.

I thought of this program as our current President struggles to separate fact from fiction. He seems more concerned with the political ramifications that he does the reality. It does not matter if folks heard him or even it recorded, truth is only as he perceives it, or remembers it, or desires it be interpreted. Who are you going to believe, your lying eyes (or ears) or what I am going to tell you. It appears that many Americans are willing to cast away any intelligence they possess to go for anything the occupant of the White House is willing to say.

I am amazed by the many tweets and misinterpretation that the American public is treated to daily. We are bombarded with “I didn’t say that” or “I was misunderstood” or “I was misquoted”. All news is fake and” the people who are against me are bad for America and don’t love our country”. We can accept pedophiles in Senate but we don’t care if millions of Americans go without healthcare. Something is wrong here!

It seems that with all his talking, he cannot persuade Robert Mueller to stop looking. He has already gotten Gen. Flynn to plead guilty to lying to the FBI, a felony. But he is not stopping there. He seems that he has more in his sights including those close to the President and maybe even the great man himself. The truth has a way of coming out no matter how we try to suppress it. We as a country will be better off when this happens. We can neither live with deceit or false accusations.

Unlike the show, we, the public, do not have a panel. It is up to us to determine if the person is lying or telling the truth. We do have one advantage; the imposters and the real person are one and the same. We should know that a lie is being told simply because the lips are moving. We don’t have to be a congressperson to shout it out. We can label it for what it is.

There was another popular show at this early time. It was called Truth or Consequences. Lies will be found out. And when they are, there is hell to pay. We, the American public, deserve to know the truth. We are stronger when we are better informed. And we are best informed when we know the TRUTH.

Brad Thompson

December, 2017