“Canine Columnist”: “Truth Matters!”

By Santino Corleone Berkwitt

“Your bark is your bond”! My father once told me this when I was a young pup, and it resonates with me to this day. I take my bark seriously. It is a tool, it can be used for good; to repair things, to warn, to chastise. A bark can also be used for the wrong purposes. If it is used to manipulate, to pervert truth, to minimize a situation, then is becomes weaponized, with the result being an assault on justice. It is the same for human words- the truth matters.

Imagine my disappointment, but not surprise, when two high profile people recently lied about events that occurred. The former guy recently lied about the January 6th insurrection, and the governor of Georgia lied about the circumstances surrounding the arrest of a Georgia state representative. I think that it is important to call these lies out for what they are an attempt to rewrite the narrative to manipulate people into their line of thinking. What’s equally insulting about these lies is that they are easily disproved. It is insulting to the intelligence of balanced people who can see things as they really are.

None of us will ever forget the violence and anger that the insurrectionists showed on January 6, 2021. As a result of the actions of some in that mob, many people, some law enforcement officers, were hurt or killed. The scenes have been played over and over and are accessible with the click of a button. So for the former guy to say that those people, people who he incited, were hugging and kissing police officers, and posed “zero threat” he defamed the honor of those who were injured and lost their lives as a result of that event. His words are dangerous and calculating, and he should be exposed as what he is, a second-rate liar who is manipulating the gullible in order to profit financially.

True to form of following Trump, the Governor of Georgia followed suit and lied about the events that lead to the arrest of State Representative Park Cannon. Videos of the event show that Rep. Cannon was knocking on the door while Jim Crow voter suppression laws were being signed by Governor Kemp. The videos that have been released show her knocking on the door, the police asking her to stop, she continues to knock on the door, and was thereafter arrested and charged with two felonies. Kemp stated that she stomped and kicked a Georgia State Patrol officer. The video doesn’t show this happening. Again, lies to deflect from the real issue-voter suppression. It is an insult to the intelligence of every reasonable person to suggest otherwise.

The danger in propagating lies is the impact that it has on justice. Trump’s lies on the details of the insurrection and Kemp’s lies on the details of Cannon’s arrest deflect from the seriousness of those situations. Their words are used as weapons, and those weapons erode justice and progress in a country that is already battling to reestablish those values.

Dear reader, I encourage you to reject all forms of lying and distraction. Call lies out for what they really are- an assault on justice. Resist the urge to normalize the lies and corruption that seem to pollute our society in all forms of media. It is only by the efforts of those who value truth that these lies will be exposed for what they are.

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