Words...

'In the postcolonial years, most ordinary people not only could read and did read, but eagerly joined in political debate. When Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay wrote The Ferderalist Papers, they already knew that an educated citizenry wanted to read and debate them. A culture like this forms minds that can retain and weigh large amounts of conceptual information, minds able to follow arguments - even dense and abstract ones.

In an electronic culture, vast chunks of incoming information have no importance at all. They simply gum our ability to distinguish and rank issues. Politics tend to dumb down into what Christopher Lasch called "ideological gestures." A serious marketplace of ideas, a place where opposing views get fairly debated and the best course of action emerges as the winner, simply can't survive in a climate ruled by the sound bite. "The problem," Neil Postman wrote, "is not entertaining subject matter, but that all subject matter s presented as entertaining." Crime, war, public humiliation, sexual intimacy, pain and political leadership - much of our experience of these things comes from watching them on network shoes. We begin to judge their value bu how prevalent they are on television and how well they hold our attention there.'
Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, Render Unto Caesar, p. 142-3

The Archbishop also points to Stephen Colbert's first appearance on the Colbert Report when he launched his trademark word: truthiness:

"Now I'm sure some of the 'word police,' the 'wordinistas' over at Webster's are gonna say, 'hey, that's not a word'. Well, anyone who knows me knows I'm no fan of dictionaries or reference books. that television presents us with They're elitist. Constantly telling us what is or isn't true, or what did or didn't happen. Who's Britannica to tell me the Panama Canal was finished in 1914? If I wanna say it happened in 1941, that's my right. I don't trust books. They're all fact, no heart....I don't trust books. They're all fact, no heart. And that's exactly what's pulling our country apart today. 'Cause face it, folks; we are a divided nation. Not between Democrats and Republicans, or conservatives and liberals, or tops and bottoms. No, we are divided between those who think with their head, and those who know with their heart....The truthiness is, anyone can read the news to you. I promise to feel the news at you."

Speaking out of character about modern political debate, Colbert later ssaid:

Truthiness is tearing apart our country, and I don't mean the argument over who came up with the word…

It used to be, everyone was entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts. But that's not the case anymore. Facts matter not at all. Perception is everything. It's certainty. People love the President because he's certain of his choices as a leader, even if the facts that back him up don't seem to exist. It's the fact that he's certain that is very appealing to a certain section of the country. I really feel a dichotomy in the American populace. What is important? What you want to be true, or what is true?…

Truthiness is 'What I say is right, and [nothing] anyone else says could possibly be true.' It's not only that I feel it to be true, but that I feel it to be true. There's not only an emotional quality, but there's a selfish quality.

'People laugh because Colbert is right. Once upon a time, words had weight. Now they float. Americans understood equality as something basic that we share before God and the law. Now it means that almost everyone feels anointed to have his or her views taken seriously, no matter how unfettered by fact, logic, civility, or common sense. Unfortunately, experience teaches the opposite. Some ideas are bad. Some opinions are foolish. Some feelings are vindictive. And some people lie.'

Chaput, p 139