President Trump, a consummate liar, charges “fake news” anytime a news account challenges his views on any topic. No matter how well-researched and sourced, if Trump doesn’t like it, it’s fake news. My friend David Hahn-Baker suggests a nickname for Trump: Pinocchio.
Particularly scary, many of Trump’s cult followers automatically accept his assessment of the values of his critics and their reporting and criticism.
So that prompts me to revive a message I have been delivering for many years, based on a postcard I once received from the brilliant lawyer, journalist, and entrepreneur Steven Brill. He founded the monthly magazine The American Lawyer and cable channel Court TV. He is the author of the best-selling book, “Tailspin: The People and Forces Behind America’s Fifty-Year Fall – and Those Fighting to Reverse It.”
The theme of Brill’s card was skepticism. It states, “Skepticism is a weapon. It deflects spin, propaganda, P.R., B.S., press agents, publicity seekers, hearsay, unnamed sources and anyone with a hidden agenda.
“Skepticism is that little voice that tells you you’ll never be a millionaire with little or no money down.
“Skepticism is a quality shared by truth seekers, freethinkers and realists.
“Skepticism demands that proof and facts are unsanitized, uncensored and unembellished.
“Skepticism makes the world accountable.
“SKEPTICISM IS A VIRTUE.”
That’s all good advice in a world where Donald Trump invents “truth” and “facts” willy nilly.
— Kennedy Maize