This is so complicated, folks. Take just the Franken situation

The news breaks in the media.

First question - do we take it at face value? What part of it - all of it, some of it - is true? Do we consider the context?

It is an extremely sensitive topic - any time a woman accuses a man - or vice versa - of an abuse like this, it has to be taken seriously.....IF it is reported correctly. IF the accuser is being honest.

But - wait - we find out that the picture could have been altered. We find out what these USO shows are like. We find out that Roger Stone seems to have his fingerprints on this - was it a set up? Does it matter - should it? - that the accuser is a Trump supporter? Or appears often on Hannity?

We all go through the fog of news at light speed - Slate, within hours, calls for Franken to step down. Gilliband comes out and said that Bill Clinton should have stepped down.

We get into the "going high vs going low" discussions - the hypocrisy aspects (how does the Franken allegations compare to Moore? or Trump?) Should it matter - shouldn't each and every allegation get treated with equal rigor? Of course - but IF we are being presented with the facts, not altered information.

Franken comes out and issues a quick apology - the apology is examined - taken apart in the media - was it done in good faith? Was it done honestly? Is it enough? Dems call for an investigation. Repubs call for an investigation - the spins and the outrage ensues. If he apologized, he must be guilty. But he is human, and from what we can tell, a pretty decent person - and he can see his political future start to crumble, perhaps....he knows what is going on, he knows the political climate.

Here at DU - I have to accept that the vast majority here post their opinions in good faith, based upon what we know at the time - but it is all moving so fast that some views, some posts become obsolete within hours.

Some of us don't know what to say. Or how to say it.

To me, it all comes down to one main thing - honesty/truth. I am in my 60s and have my own perceptions on how honesty/truth has been applied over my life. It just seems as though this is what we often lack these days, because of all of the gaslighting and polarization and us vs them fighting. Throw in our natural inclinations - Democrats like to talk things through, present data, information, we seem to like to defer, shoot ourselves in the foot, "be nice". Republicans - authoritarian, black and white, and these days, playing out some sort of revenge for - for what? For Obama being black? For the Clintons being smart and very able politicians?

I think what we are seeing playing out is one big huge right wing inferiority complex - they are wielding their power and destroying because we - the Democrats - represent things that they simply are not capable of. Decency, kindness, creativity, progress, equality.

Anyway - I didn't know where this would go when I started it, but my main point - this is so damn complicated. And we are all having to react to things that change by the hour - often by the minute. And we don't know what we can believe, or trust.