What is Truth?

I was always taught that accountability was a key component of leadership. Ducking, dodging and mincing words would not suffice. If a particular individual wasn't equipped to shoulder the responsibility  for their words and actions then he or she was not fit to lead. This is the model that greatly influences my level of respect for those in leadership positions. This is also why it sickens me to watch so many of our "political leaders" (and in this context I use the term leader very very loosely) cloaking themselves in deception and / or hiding behind conveniently distorted interpretations and technicalities to avoid the truth. This generally spineless and self-serving approach to the "responsibility of office" has damaged the American political system, and just as importantly the populace's perception of the system, in a very profound way.

One bipartisan truth that few will likely contest is that Americans don't trust their government. When the people you elect to represent you organize systems set up to deceive then you eventually  stop believing what they tell you. You are then forced to ponder the question posed by Pontius Pilate two millennia ago, "What is Truth?"

This current assault on truth through duplicity, hypocrisy and downright dishonesty pulls back the curtain to reveal a government that functions unlike what the citizenry expect of it, raising the haunting question, "are we what others have long accused us of being?"

A nation should never be forced to doubt it's overriding principles. When I watch "respected individuals" stand before the American people, look directly into our faces, and lie to us over and over again, it calls into question the purity of their motives. Exactly what type of tenure or administration is built on lies and deceit? Of course no sane citizen demands perfection from its public servants, but we must come to demand that they be honorable and responsible otherwise  our republic will soon cross a bridge that explodes behind it, offering no viable path back to where we were.