Have you seen Truth?

There are larks, and they are owls. They are morning people, and they are night people.

I admit it: I am a late-night person. I have always wanted to be one of those early birds, up at dawn and embracing the day, but it´s simply not part of my constitution.

Since childhood, I have loved the quiet of the night. I love the stretch of time that is my own. It feels luxurious and, even, a little daring. All the good citizens of the world are fast asleep, and the light is burning bright in my abode. I am awake, and the night is my companion -- as is my computer, the television or a book.

I often have the TV on as background fuzz – so much for doing one thing at a time and being in the moment – as I answer emails. It´s not one of my more sterling traits, but it is, what it is.

So, one late night, a week or so ago, I hear, or I think I hear, Mary Hart announce on television show, Entertainment Weekly that Angelina Jolie had given birth to twin girls.

Another night following the birth announcement, I hear another TV news show talking about how the press will pay $15-20 million dollars for exclusive rights to the pictures of these twins. "Will pay"—as in future tense -- is what buzzes in my ears. "Wait a minute," I think, "weren´t these kids born already?"

I am confused and befuddled. Did I imagine that I heard they were born? Am I losing my, some might argue, already tenuous grip on reality?

Admittedly, I wasn´t paying close attention, but I knew I heard names, multiple names. Each girl´s middle name was shared with either a Jolie or a Pitt grandmother. It´s the kind of detail that stuck with me. However, these name and gendered children have yet to grace the earth.

Beam me up, Scotty. I am beginning to think I am living in a time warp or a parallel universe.

The coupe de grace was Monday, June 2, 2008. Whoopi Goldberg announced on the television show, The View, from an Associated Press (AP) wire that Hillary Clinton had withdrawn from the presidential election. As the women of the roundtable were discussing this newsflash, Whoopi Goldberg reveals that she has just heard (through her ear piece) from the Clinton campaign; they say the AP story is untrue.

These two recent events give me pause.

Were the fact checkers on strike, and I missed that tidbit?

And, yet, there have been other similar actions. Remember the award-winning New York Times reporter who was on the fast track to success? It turns out he was more of a creative type; the truth wasn´t necessary for his front page articles. He simply fabricated all of his well-received sources and materials. How very inventive of him.

I recently read an excerpt from Bill Moyer´s – now there´s a man who knows truth – new book on democracy. He talks about news and journalism having become consolidated into entertainment media. He´s right. Everything is driven by corporate money, corporate interests.

And, as such, the spin doctors create what they think we need to hear, and, more specifically, what we need to hear to maintain their best interests.

For example, before Al Gore´s "An Inconvenient Truth," the current Administration disavowed global warming, which is pretty amazing sleight of hand given crashing glaciers, melting ice floes and the bizarre world-wide weather patterns.

Maybe philosopher, Alfred North Whitehead, was right when he said, "There are no whole truths; all truths are half-truths. It is trying to treat them as whole truths that play the devil."

It seems to me these sins of omission; homogenous, pre-masticated news stories and smoke and mirrors can be wonderfully obfuscating and mindlessly numbing. The media is doing its dance and holding up shiny, sparkly objects to direct my attention. I can hear the subliminal message, "You are getting sleepy, very sleepy."

This makes me wonder.

Mathematics has proofs; logic has syllogisms, and science has double-blind studies. What about the media? Are they exempt? Do they get to be their own kind of shoot-´em-up cowboys and fashion the information at whim? They could even start with that time-honored Dragnet philosophy: "M´am, the facts, please, just the facts."

Throughout the ages, Truth has been depicted as a woman holding up a mirror with the glass reflecting out to the world. Sometimes, she has a serpent draped around her. I would think given the description, she might be easy enough to spot, but, apparently, I am mistaken.

Has anybody seen Truth lately? Is she on sabbatical? Has she run off with Justice for advanced courses in dealing with the nuances, complexities and many-sided perspectives of today´s world? Or maybe she is on vacation with Consequences. They do like those extreme sport adventures. Or may be she met up with Dare, and they are holed up writing plot lines for reality television.

The truth be told, truth is a disappearing commodity. It´s right up there with clean water, fresh air and nutrient-rich soil. Truth has become precious.

Gandhi would agree. He wrote, "There is no God higher than Truth."

St. John told us that the truth would make us free, but first, I would argue, we have to find truth.

There is a West African proverb that says: "Truth keeps the hands cleaner than soap." Maybe we need to look for squeaky clean hands as well.

However, until Truth shows up in all of her serpent-clad, mirror toting, reflective glory and dazzles those media moguls with her brilliance, I am going to maintain a vigil. It´s the least I can do, and, hey, I even own a mirror.

copyright 2008 by Adele Ryan McDowell