Separating wheat from the chaff

The first step in the wheat harvest is separating the valuable wheat from the low value chaff or straw. Every farmer understands this. So when we live in a world filled with information, like fog on a September morning, how do we discern the good from the bad?

We have an administration that spews information like ash from a 1960s-era coal plant. While we are disoriented by the fog of information on Page 1, articles on Page 5 show the administration approving drilling in the Arctic, rolling back clean air and water regulations or worse.

We have a president who avoids specifics and facts while speaking publicly, favoring terms like, “It might happen” or “who knows?” or “I was joking.” If you trust the source, listen closely to what he says off the record. Much of it is disturbing. Whether you believe it all or not, where there is smoke there is fire.

Then there are the tax returns. Four years ago, he said he was going to release them after the IRS completed a supposed audit. The returns are still not released and no mention of an audit since 2016. Frankly, I don’t need to know what is in the president’s tax returns. Simply the fact that the president has gone to such lengths and expense to keep them from the public is enough to know that his financial records will not be a positive reflection on him.

I fear that our president and those who support him are all chaff and no wheat.

Jim Miller, Middletown