Democracy On The Edge Entering 2022 Elections
There is an old saying about the role of the press in America that speaks only half of what it should. We are supposed to “speak truth power.” It means that we are responsible for exposing wrongdoing, neglect, and ineptness that could endanger public health and finances. We expose officials in public life who seek to enrich themselves at the taxpayers’ expense.
What that saying leaves out is our responsibility to also speak the truth to our communities. However, it can be far easier, and less costly, to speak truth to those in public office than to a community bitterly divided by politics.
We are on the eve of another election year, and the state of our uncivil political discourse should concern us all. What is frightening about today’s division is the violence implied and justified by some – not all on the fringes of the political spectrum. Though they are a minority, they’ve taken control of the message.