We want to be able to identify political facts from political lies. But, it is becoming increasingly unknown how to tell the difference. Both sides in the last US election regarded the claims of the opposition as lies. According to Gallup research, 69% of Americans no longer trust mainstream media and 85% are worried about misinformation online. But the problem goes deeper. It is not clear what misinformation is and how it is substantiated, since one side's facts are the other side's lies. The very label 'misinformation' is sometimes itself uncovered as misinformation. Similarly fact-checkers can themselves be a vehicle for a predetermined point of view.
Should we stop seeing politicians as liars and accept that rhetoric and propaganda will always be a part of democracy? Alternatively should we double down on removing bias, and demand that truth be central to politics? Or should we conclude that objective truth is an impossible standard to reach, and accept that there are alternative, radically differing perspectives that are capable of being held as true?