Saying It Is So

Just because I say something doesn’t make it so. It is an opinion until proven it is a fact. Some things are factual on their face – the earth is round; the day is when the earth’s surface faces the sun whether seen or not; nighttime is the absence of daylight; snow happens when temperatures are near or below freezing, 32 degrees Fahrenheit. And so on. Most facts are proven by science or happenings with documentary record.

Opinion is what I think or value something as. He is an old man is fact, not opinion. He is a dotty old man is an opinion, not a fact unless proven so. She is a great administrator may be a fact or opinion; the matter must have substantive facts to back it up to erase opinion. The style of a car or suit of clothes is an opinion, well, the liking of it is. In its own right, style exists. Whether it is liked or detested is a matter of personal opinion. If popular, the style is a winner established by facts.

Politics is a lot of opinion. There are facts, of course, but they are always in context of opinion, aren’t they? If a political regime addresses popular assessment of what needs fixing, and if that regime fixes the problems, then it is popular, supportable and wins elections and re-elections. Those are facts. A lot of opinion is contained within those facts, but something occurs that creates the facts. Good, bad and ugly, results are results and measurable. Those are the facts.

Politics in 2024 – and for several years, if not decades, has been our political context – people say things that are patently not supported by the facts. They are therefore opinions or misstatements. The latter are false reports, or opinions taken as facts. But facts require the data to be real.

Trump stating Biden is a criminal does not make the statement true. He said the same thing about Hillary. Nothing of his Hillary claims proved to be true. Nothing. “Lock her up” was a campaign slogan that proved nothing. Ever. Trump is doing the same thing with Biden.

Yes, Biden is an old man. I am an old man. Trump is an old man. Age has nothing to do with this election, or ought not. Both candidates are old. They may have value in the political world, but they are too old to run for the office of President. I firmly believe that. The problem is the two dominant political parties have done a poor job at succession planning. No clear successor to the party leadership currently exists for a candidate to run for the office of President. That is their problem. Now ours as voters.

That is a fact, not an opinion. Who is prepared to take the place of either Biden or Trump? Why are our choices so limited?

Meanwhile, we have a failed ex-President and a working, demonstrably successful current President. The latter is running for re-election. He has a track record for the past four years that supports his candidacy. He also has a lifetime career record that supports the same conclusion. Not so his opponent. In fact, that opponent is a convicted felon with additional criminal proceedings still pending. His behaviors under criminal examination are those inappropriate of a President. He does not have the credentials, therefore, to be elected again. That’s a fact of our history and value system.

Claiming the other guy is worse than me doesn’t carry any weight. Both are opinions until facts are presented to support the claims, facts that are proven.

This fall the voters will decide who is right. Seems a simple matter to me. Believing whatever is said complicates matters unless proof is demanded and received. I’m hoping opinion doesn’t win the election. I prefer the facts.

Worrying about the outcome is a fact that proves our social order is in trouble. When facts are ignored for opinion, we all are in deep doo doo.

What should we do about that?

June 19, 2024

   

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