Congress Searching for the Truth and Absence of Malice

Unless you’ve been hiding in a cave these last few months then one of the topics being talked about is how Congress has been involved in trying to impeach President Trump for an as yet imprecise violation of law that would fit the definition of high crimes worthy of removal from office.

Before going into any of the details put forth by those making a mockery of our system of justice; try to define, in such a way that Noah Webster’s dictionary will, in some way, validate your idea of Truth. Is truth a collection of facts, observations or the result of beliefs which fit your opinion; exactly what is the truth?

The other night there was a movie on,  Absence of Malice, which got my attention as it presented a believable scenario showing how Truth is obtained or perceived.  There’s a short synopsis available at Wikiquote’s page; “…a film about the son of a deceased criminal who awakes one day to find himself a front-page story in the local newspaper, incorrectly indicating that he is being investigated in the murder of a local longshoreman union official.”

That short statement really doesn’t explain enough about the film.  It fails to identify that the story that made its way into the newspaper was due to an intentional leaking of information by a government official to a reporter looking to find a good story, and, since the information being leaked came from a supposedly reliable source, it must be true.

As the movie unfolded, having seen it many years ago, the idea occurred to me that current political events could have easily been used as a backdrop for the story; but I’m getting ahead of myself…

The main character, played by Paul Newman, confronted the reporter, played by Sally Field, who had basically destroyed his business and ability to mingle in society.  She attempted to justify her actions as ‘just doing her job’; but he tells her, “…You don’t write the truth. You write what people say. What you overhear, you eavesdrop. You don’t come across truth that easy.”

The news media doesn’t have to prove anything they print or share, as the movie’s newsroom editor explained, “…That as a matter of law, the truth is irrelevant. We have no knowledge the story is false, therefore we’re absent malice. We’ve been both reasonable and prudent, therefore we’re not negligent.”

Isn’t that how Congress has been moving forward with its investigation of President Trump?  They let stories leak to the media, a media that has already proven it’s really nothing more than a propaganda machine for leftist politicians, constantly inundating the public with half-truths, innuendo and presumptions based on what some have properly called ‘Nothing Burgers’. A lie told often enough becomes the same as truth to a gullible public.

But; all their sources are reliable.  Reminds me of Marc Anthony referring to Caesar’s accusers as Honorable Men…Yes, our sources are all reliable.  As far as Congress is concerned, all of their sources are pure with no axes to grind; a few knives to jab President Trump in the back perhaps, but no axes to grind.

As we’re finding out through multiple sources, other than the main stream media outlets, the reliable sources sharing dirt on President Trump just happen to be associated with the Democrat Party, their failed attempt to get Hillary Clinton elected to the Oval Office and the never-ending attempt to remove a duly elected President from office.