The truth protects itself, right? Truth tellers are protected by the sheer fact that their story remains the same, no matter how many times they tell it. Written records, signatures, videotape, all kinds of PROOF to back you up endlessly, if you know what you’re talking about, right? Not so.

Actually, the American government (and other governments of the world) have made the truth a matter of national security. It must be protected by the powers that be. Telling the truth means that someone else has an unfair advantage over you and governments need to hide it in order to protect their interests. Which of course, we are told, are our interests. (I’m wondering how $5 a gallon gas prices are in my interest but that’s another story.)

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Was telling the truth always a unique experience for us, or has it gotten even more unique in 2008?

Let’s not make this too complicated. The truth can be seen as really tricky sometimes, but that’s not what I’m talking about here. I’m talking about telling what really happened, or what you really think about something, which may not be the most popular point to bring to light. To do this, means you have to use your own head (also a rare occurrence it seems) and that you’ve done some thinking and back-end checking for yourself (another sad but true rare occurrence) and you’ve got to be willing to be ridiculed. This part is what probably makes the whole thing the most difficult for us.

Telling the truth creates difficulty, it seems for everyone in our society. It may not get quick results. And the fact that we are afraid to find out what we don’t know might be killing us.

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