All for personal gain
The world is now listening and watching, witnessing widespread corruption of multimillionaire and billionaire despots, many of whom are heads of governments suppressing their populations and pillaging their treasuries for their personal gain. Most of America's media continues to issue veiled warnings, publishing and broadcasting that this country continually elects millionaires and billionaires to office, believing wealth alone, regardless of how it's attained or how it's spent, is sufficient to rule.
Oligarchs of newly created and emerging nations, plutocracies with the affluent elite in control appear to be growing, preventing governments that should be for the people and by the people-at-large.
No, the media is not the enemy of the state; its enemy is tyrannical diktat, seducing and cajoling the public to concede to its command.
Reread the First Amendment; you just might be able to save democracy.
James D. Cook
Schaumburg
Our sense of what's right
A very interesting article in Time magazine April 3 entitled " Can Trump Handle the Truth?" discussed the opposing forces of truth vs. falsehood, opinion vs. fact, lying vs. honesty, and misrepresentation/fraud and deceit vs. genuine reality. As depicted in his daily utterances (tweets), his pronouncements, unfounded accusations and seemingly intentional distortions of what is, our president is attempting to redefine reality. The universe of both existential and empirical fact/truths are a given and simply not open to manipulation and distortion to suit one's personal agenda or self-promotion. Diametrically opposed truths/facts cannot coexist as reality. They are mutually and categorically exclusive. Ergo "alternate facts" may best be characterized as simply lies.
But our president treats falsehoods as an excusable means of negotiation. If what he utters today is downright false (and he may even know this) and a week later there happens to be evidence to support his claim, he will take credit as if he is a soothsayer of future events. This is supposed to convince his foes that he is the smart one and in complete control. If his claim remains forever untrue or has a hurtful consequence, he will blame someone else or lots of others.
Donald Trump does not look at reality or the "binary system" defining truth and falsehood the way we do. Lying as well as telling the truth are convoluted and blurred in his world.
We do not have to get used to this demented way to communicate. This is not simply politics; it insults our sense of right and wrong, our very moral fiber.
Larry Joel Powitz
Arlington Heights