Emerson said, “…wise men pierce this rotten diction and fasten words again to visible things.” It’s in his essay, “Nature,” and he was talking about the sacrifice of sacred truth to profane ambitions:

When our sideshow news cablists, the White House, the NAACP and others began their carnival barking outside Andrew Breitbart’s tent once again – this time echoing Brietbart’s slander of Shirley Sherrod – the predictable puerility followed. The White House apologized and blamed the media culture, Fox News denied its role, pundits claimed the high ground [...]

We can talk ourselves into damned near anything. We listen for the truth. Sometimes it seems like we assume the theatre’s already on fire, and we can find our way out by shouting directions to everyone else. The blogosphere’s given power to our voices. But we need to listen, too.

A Revolution of the Lie helped lead us into a devastating economic mess. Only a commitment to truth can get us out of it, and that takes an understanding of the nation’s problematic relationship with the truth.