The looming midterm elections fill me with dread. Dread means a fear that something bad is about to happen. When 120 Republican candidates for public office across the nation publicly and outrightly support the claim that the 2020 election was stolen despite official government investigations and 61 court cases that proved the contrary, I fear for the life of truth as a value and a virtue. When the former President can take classified documents to a private residence and then suggest that the FBI planted them as incriminating evidence, I fear for the life of truth. The fact that so many Republican supporters fall in line to support the ex-president’s claims makes it seem that truth may be breathing its last breath. The ability of so many Republicans to blindly support the lies, deceptions, and distractions fomented by their leadership fills me with dread.

What will happen to the vitality of the truth in our American political discourse? How will we ever be able to teach our children and grandchildren the importance of telling the truth? My hope is that many citizens will see and vote for the truth rather than support candidates who play lightly with the virtue and value of truth in public discourse and private lives.

Richard Broach,
Delavan