When Did We Change The Burden Of Proof?

Thursday, June 7, 2018

I'm looking for some help from somewhere. Could someone answer for me when we changed the standard "innocent until proven guilty" to "guilty unless you can prove otherwise?" I think that this is a fair question because, somewhere along the line, the national liberal media and Congress has made this change; and I'd like to know when it happened.

Thankfully, our judicial system hasn't followed the trend of the "kangaroo court of opinion" that so many are subscribing to or we would be in an even bigger mess in this country. I'm pretty sure that our founding fathers were a little brighter than most of the current crop of "leaders" we have. And, that little concept of "innocent until proven guilty" seems to be pretty fair to me.

It's unfortunate that we have now allowed far too many things to be played out in the other court and way too many people seem to want to try and convict people based on innuendos, half-truths and sometimes downright lies. And don't worry about that pesky little extra step of actually checking out the facts.

Hey, I've been just as guilty as the next guy to jump to conclusions based on less than full knowledge; and I have been called on the carpet from time to time because of my laziness or lack of diligence. But in the case of big issues, I do try to do my homework or, if I make a mistake, at least admit it.

I don't think that many members of our national liberal media or political leaders show the same concern for knowing the true facts. Or, more disturbing may be that they know the truth but don't really care, just so long as their "facts" further their goals.

I am really getting tired of every little issue being blown totally out of proportion and every murmured allegation by anyone being accepted as "gospel." It's like we are modeling the little boy who cried wolf at every turn -- only to not be believed when the wolf really was at the door. Except in today's world, we see a wolf everywhere -- and when a real one isn't there, we just fabricate one.

We see this played out in every part of society and it's both dangerous and scary for everyone. All it takes is one "anonymous" source to make an allegation, and the national liberal media and the politicians begin the rending of garments and gnashing of teeth -- it doesn't matter how reliable the source, just as long as the content meets the narrative they support.

Don't you think that we owe it to ourselves to demand that the national liberal media and politicians limit their attacks to those things that they can prove and not just make the "facts" match their desired outcome? I kind of thought that was the way things were supposed to work, so that's why I want to know when we turned that corner.

I believe our "journalists" and elected representatives have a moral obligation to investigate allegations of misdeeds and lapses of conscience of those in positions of responsibility. But, they also have just as much of an obligation to ensure that they find out the real truth before jumping to conclusions. Wouldn't that be a novel idea? Maybe all of us should give it a try as well.

As I end this column, I just have to comment on the Fresno State "educator?" that jumped for joy that Barbara Bush had died. Won't give this individual the dignity of using her name, but she really delighted in the passing of a lady that never showed anything but grace and class all of her life.

If you looked up the definition of "lady" in the dictionary, I wouldn't be surprised if Barbara's picture was there. I don't quite see how someone could truly find any joy in her passing, and I think that we really need to pray for someone who is so filled with hatred as this person from California expressed.

Maybe I missed it but wonder if the national liberal media has given this story very much coverage. And, I wonder if things would have been different if we changed the names and it was Barack Obama's mother, or perhaps Hillary Clinton's, that someone was expressing such glee in their passing? Another fair question and one for you to ponder.

Kevin Wilson is a former state representative who was born in Goodman, Mo., and now lives in Neosho, Mo. Opinions expressed are those of the author.

Editorial on 06/07/2018