It should be no surprise that the Republicans are lying about themselves now; they have lied about President Obama these past four years and paid no penalty. If the Big Lie technique worked before, why not use it now? They expect to get away with it at least through election day.

The media have a special place in our system under the first amendment of the US Constitution. It is their responsibility to present at least two sides of every question to the voters so that the voters can weigh the evidence and make informed decisions. The Founding Fathers believed that in the contest of ideas, citizens would be best served by competing ideas. Voters have a duty in our democracy to inform themselves and make educated decisions. With one side (the GOP) consistently lying, the truth is often hard to determine.

In today’s political world, presenting two sides to an argument, one Democratic and one Republican, is difficult if one side is telling the truth and the other side is consistently lying. My suggestion is that the media seek out members of the GOP, either retired or retiring like Tom Coburn, who are willing to tell the truth. If no truth-telling Republicans can be found, then I suggest that the media adopt the Clint Eastwood method and represent the GOP with an empty chair.

To keep and merit their special status in our democracy, the media must do more to expose political lies by either side. If the media adopt the Eastwood method, then GOP lies will be restricted to paid commercials and FOX News.