A question I get asked repeatedly.  Why concede that something exists?

A:  Because it does.

What not make them prove it exists?

A:  Because we know it does, and if we say it does not exist, we are liars. And because we look stupid ostriches or sleazy used car salesman if we deny it.  The sun comes up even if its cloudy.

Somewhere, I missed the lesson that my duty to the truth was less important than other things, like winning.  Co-equal is the best I can do.  I certainly can’t lie.  I just don’t feel right in denying things – in talking absolutes, like there is “no evidence” of something obvious.

I can parse words with the best of them.  I constantly get into fights with others for the same reasons: conclusions stated as fact, evidence treated like proof. And me talking like I am on the job through all of it.  I actually like doing that, because it cuts through the hype, and the opinion and the prejudice.  It kills the flow of the story, but such is the bitter pill that is truth.  Truthiness and bald-faced lies are fine here; out in the real world, the facts have to speak for themselves, not appear or disappear as the end game demands.