WHAT IS THE TRUTH?

     Truth? It appears to be different or varying with each person. We have been introduced to "fake news", alternative reality and other ridiculous terminology all meant to deny the truth - that these were euphemisms for lies. We have people leading us, G-d help us all, who would not and do not know the truth when it rears up and slaps them in the face. So how do we know whom to trust and whom to believe.
     Robert Penn Warren states in All the King's Men "For the truth is a terrible thing. You dabble your foot in it and it is nothing. But you walk a little farther and you feel it pull you like an undertow or a whirlpool."
     Truth can be addictive and can be demanding. Once it is demanded we never know where it will lead us but we must follow the path for the entire truth to be revealed. Take this whole mess with the Trump administration and campaign and the ties to Russian operatives. Trump, in  trying to deflect attention from what was coming out accused the Obama administration  of tapping him and following him and his minions and what do you know? We now find out that one of his chief campaign aides, Carter Page, was indeed an agent for the Russians. Backfire indeed! And there is more yet to come and I believe that Trump himself is involved up to and including his miserable little neck!! So in looking for the truth we found the truth is  made up of people telling major lies, but as I have stated over and over again - the truth will out. It most certainly will.
     Then of course we have the truth of the stupidity and the nastiness of the members of Trump's crew. Spicer is a perfect example. Assad was worse than Hitler for according to Spicer Hitler did not use chemical weapons so gee, wonder what Zyklon B did when it was poured thru openings into gas chambers!!! And in trying to apologize for his crude and cruel remarks, he inserted his other foot right in that same mouth by saying oh, yes the Jews were taken to Holocaust centers - for what - games? - but at least Hitler did not use chemical weapons on his own people! So that makes it okay to use on not "your own people"? Is that the philosophy behind the immigration ban and the force applied to gather up all illegal immigrants, to rip apart families, to harass at border crossings? What is the truth here? Figure it out for yourself and if we are talking stupidity and cupidity keep looking at the rest of this administration and their conflicts of interests, their lack of ethics and their aversion to the truth.
      Or shall we say that perhaps they do realize the truth when the Secretary of the EPA asks for more guards as they go about eliminating programs that benefit the electorate but are bad for their businesses? Hope they are so scared that they come to their senses!
     So what is the truth and when are we supposed to recognize it? I do not know the precise answer, but for sure when looking around it is easy to discern falsehood if one keeps eyes open and brains working. It matters not whether it is right here in Century Village where we know that we are denied the truth by David Israel et al or the national government where Trump and truth live on opposite sides of the planet. Do we want to know the truth or do we say, as a character in Greg Iles' book said, that "Wish I didn't know now what I didn't know then." Is ignorance bliss or is it simply wishful thinking, putting the proverbial heads in the sand or  just putting on shields over and around one's eyes and shutting off the brain and independent thinking or is it greed if one is benefitting from the conditions prevalent at that time? Personally, I think it comes from fear and from laziness with greed and quests for power playing major roles.
     So what are we to do? We are to fight for what is true and right. We are to stand up to lies and hatred. We are to put ourselves out there and stop making excuses. "The question isn't who's going to let me; it's who's going to stop me." The only thing that can stop us is ourselves. Any other statement is merely an excuse.
     What is the truth? It is the actual facts, the actual motives of people, the actual events, the actual reality! Truth is fact and not made up. Truth is what we need to strive for and truth must make its demands on us and we must hear and heed those demands.
     Truth will be our savior or saving grace in this benighted administration. The representative of falsehood is Trump. Time for him to go - take a long vacation after an impeachment! Or resign, as did Nixon.Time for truth to take center stage.