This is a dangerous time for truth in media and government, thanks primarily to Republicans, their corporate and social conservative supporters, along with the daily efforts to mislead by propagandists such as talk radio’s Laura Ingraham. The result is that issues that need to be addressed are ignored, while wedge issues, such as resolutions about God in the public square, are peddled by Republicans.

Republicans loudly question global warming, while Exxon quietly pays scientists who support that absurdity.

The strategy is simply to create doubt.

The Republican approach of changing the subject to obfuscate is clear. That approach is designed to trump life-and-death issues such as the war in Iraq and the shredding of the U.S. Constitution by a Bush administration intent on carrying forth an agenda in service primarily to party and supporters, instead of country.

The daily results of that disastrous approach often go unrecognized by Americans.

One example of how Americans pay the price for Republican deceit is the recent debacle over subprime predatory lending. The Federal Reserve, under Alan Greenspan, refused to police subprime lending, arguing it was the province of the states. According to a recent interview on National Public Radio, when New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer tried to act, the Justice Department put up a road block, saying it was a federal issue.

That is what happens when smoke and mirrors trump reason and accountability in politics, and this is what Republicans peddle each and every day.

Mark Tardif, Waterville

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