October 24, 2018
Like many people these days, I am suffering from fact-checking fatigue. The president lies so often that it is hard to keep up. He uses his lying as a strategy, and his base finds it amusing. They wink at the President’s prevarications. The rest of us find it extremely dangerous, and a threat to our democracy. I hate to say it, but maybe the Republican leadership has it right. They have decided to ignore the president, and do their jobs. Maybe the rest of us should do the same.
We cannot stop challenging the President, but we do not have to give him the oxygen he needs to survive. The burden of proof should not be on us and the media to fact-check everything Trump lies about. At this point, the burden of proof should be on this President to prove his assertions. The media should not have to report and fact-check every lie. They could start their headlines everyday by saying or writing, “The President made another series of unsubstantiated claims today. Once he provides tangible and verifiable proof that his claims are true, we will report on them. Now, the news.”
Claims about crowd size, illegal voting, wiretapping, Middle Eastern terrorists, drug dealers, and MS-13 gang members embedded in caravans, California mobs, 10% middle class tax cuts, protecting preexisting conditions, 400 pound hackers in New Jersey, and more would suffocate for lack of air. Mr. Trump, prove it.
The Spin Doctor 