Letters to the Editor: Constant lying harms democracy. It's time for a law on truth in political speech
To the editor: The May 13 Opinion section featured two articles and one letter decrying former President Trump's Big Lie and the normalization of lying in political speech in America. Americans are badly in need of wide-ranging new legislation to address this noxious pollution of the information environment.
We already have truth-in-lending laws, truth-in-advertising laws and many legal penalties for lying in financial disclosures and transactions. These protections are in place because lying in these contexts has consequences that are unacceptable.
The last four years have made it abundantly clear that unrestrained mendacity in political speech can massively damage our society. It is time for Americans to demand strong legislation to mandate truth in political speech.
As columnist Harry Litman concludes, "we have to look to the legal system to enforce sanity." Flagrant mendacity in political speech has poisoned our discourse for far too long.
James Shirley, Simi Valley
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To the editor: Litman argues, "The Trump Years have taken some politicians' tolerance for dishonesty to new highs."
What about the media? It was more than a year into Donald Trump's presidency before reporters began calling his false statements lies.
Fred Fenton, Seal Beach
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
