Fact-checkers worldwide gathered in Buenos Aires last week for their third annual conclave and guess what was a favorite topic? Yup, Donald Trump. U.S. attendees from The Washington Post, FactCheck.org and PolitiFact, among many others, said (as one put it) “Trump responds differently to their work compared to other politicians — more specifically, he doesn’t respond at all.” (Poynter) It's the combination of his deceits and his repetitive refusal to back down even when proven wrong. Counterparts from around the globe conceded that they, too, are looking closely at his campaign, even if they suggest he's both unique and not a total outlier on the world stage.

But is it merely falsehoods he's offering as he calls a judge a “Mexican,” smears Muslims and President Obama and denies shafting single working moms at his sham university? Or as he lies about how many people were waiting to get into his rally last night in Dallas? (The Dallas Morning News) Does it go deeper and morph into the sort of propaganda synonymous with George Orwell's “1984?”

He does, after all, seem to be intentionally mangling truth to advance his political agenda. It's quite like Orwell's world where war is deemed peace and work is considered play. Bankruptcy is a sign of responsibility. Women are debased as an adoration for them is professed. The great populist is sued for cheating lots of small contractors. It calls to mind the late Vanity Fair columnist Christopher Hitchens, who underscored how Orwell discerned that words were starting to mean anything but what they appeared to mean. We thus had, as Hitchens put it, “the outline of a discourse in which, for example, 'freedom is slavery' was slowly taking shape in his mind.” (The Guardian)

Now, consider a thought from Mary McNamara, TV critic for The Los Angeles Times, who was taken with Bill O'Reilly Monday appearance on Stephen Colbert's show and how they improbably had a polite chat over major ideological differences. It was a “bridge between ideologies” too often given to posturing rather than dialogue.

We don't see very much of that and it underscored for her how we've witnessed the decline of the truly trusted news anchor. “Increasingly, anchors are no longer personalities defined by their ability to do their job, their job is defined by their ability to cultivate their personalities, which includes, at times, their politics.” (The Los Angeles Times) Provocation and strong opinions are ascendant even for de facto Teleprompter readers.

“So when Americans say they don’t trust 'the media,' it’s difficult to gauge what they’re talking about, but less difficult to realize it’s a huge problem. The real dangers of the news anchor vacuum threaten the audience more than any network. As the political rhetoric of the presidential campaign became more heated and bizarre, as Donald Trump makes statements and suggestions that increasingly seem at odds with democracy, the lack of a national news figure whom a majority of Americans like and trust has become painfully obvious.”

Your 'trusted' news sources, as so many market themselves, seem anything but in a world where war is peace and bankruptcy is gilded affluence. The Cavaliers throttled the Warriors last night. Unless you claim the Warriors won. Maybe Trump will.

So much for gun control

On Wednesday, The Washington Post informed, “Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and some vulnerable GOP lawmakers signaled Wednesday that they are open to changing the nation’s gun laws, raising the possibility that the political tide might be shifting on an issue that has sharply divided Americans for years.” (The Washington Post) Last night it informed, “An effort to pass new gun-control legislation in the wake of a deadly mass shooting in Orlando is poised to end in a familiar impasse in the coming days — and potentially pit Republican lawmakers against their presumed presidential nominee, Donald Trump, who called for congressional action.” (The Washington Post)