Trump's chilling effect on investigations scares some but doesn't deter truth

Journalists and investigative civil servants should follow the example of chipmunks who dig in the dirt and digest what they find.

Journalists should investigate by asking pointed questions, gathering information, and reporting their findings. Media organizations at the top level decided what is reported, however. That is why free, independent, investigative journalism is important in a democracy, however, the current presidential administration has numbed reporting and, therefore, what is known by the public is lacking. To further exacerbate matters, Presidential Counselor Kellyanne Conway manipulates the truth to protect her boss which is her job, in my opinion.

I have refrained from blogging recently because I have been watching the fallout around President Trump - his finger-pointing at journalists and "fake news" determinations.  And with the recent firing of FBI Director James Comey and the arrest of Public News Service Journalist Dan Heyman, it is evident that Trump and his employees are not afraid of investigations at any level and will do what it takes to quell truth.

What Pres. Trump and his Trumpettes seem to be doing is suppressing information and making folks fear that if they exercise their freedom of speech or willingness to live up to their employment responsibilities to report what they find, they will wind up fired or incarcerated. Candidate Trump even urged that Candidate Hillary Clinton be locked up for using a private email server. What the???

This is the age of Big Brother on steroids.  George Orwell wrote about government manipulation of truth in his dystopian novel 1984. It is ironic that we seem to be in Orwell's perpetual war, not only in Afghanistan, but in a public opinion battle and mis-reality tug - not knowing what is really going on in our world, either because the information is "classified" or manipulated by powers beyond our control.

Today, if you're a truth-searcher, you may be relegated to pre-existing condition status - poor and neglected. Or you survive to tell the story.

May God have mercy on us.