I don't know exactly what happened in Ferguson, Mo.
I don't know exactly what happened in Benghazi, Libya.
What I do know is that many believe what they want to believe about what happened.
The same might be said of the report about the "enhanced interrogation techniques" by the CIA and private contractors.
The tendency to view issues and events through a filter of preconceived notions with entrenched opinions trumping facts inhibits our ability to see things with an open mind or objectively.
And that's a problem.
Knee-jerk reactions and impulsive responses contribute to intractable standoffs. Too many of us are unwilling to take the time to try to understand the complexities of an issue, to see the other side of an argument. Too many politicians and pundits simply reinforce pre-existing prejudices.
Look at any of the controversies mentioned here -- Ferguson, Benghazi, the report on the CIA -- and many others where preordained beliefs prevail over analysis of the best available information and where a broader perspective may be important.
Consider the Ferguson case, where the bullets fired by Officer Darren Wilson are still ricocheting. Many believe the grand-jury decision not to indict Wilson was the correct one. Yet, witness accounts and testimony diverged sharply.
Young Michael Brown, who died in that incident, was a less-than-perfect martyr, as those who have taken up his banner should acknowledge. But Brown has become a symbol for what many perceive as a much broader societal problem -- that young black men are too often subject to harassment or worse by police and for no good reason. Indeed there is a considerable chasm between those who believe Brown was an innocent victim and those who believe the police acted justifiably. The one certain conclusion is the confrontation tragically spiraled out of control.
The Brown case has now been paired by some with police treatment last summer of another African-American, Eric Garner, in New York. Garner died after police arrested him on suspicion of selling untaxed cigarettes. The big difference was a cellphone video of the incident existed, which wasn't the case in Ferguson. The video recorded by a friend of Garner's showed an officer wrapping his arm around Garner's neck while he kept pleading, "I can't breathe." However, some insist it was a headlock and no choking was involved, and a grand jury said there was insufficient evidence to charge the officer. Garner died from a heart attack en route to a hospital.
Increased use by police of body cameras to record interaction with the public, including cases where there are claims of excessive use of force by police, should be helpful. But you have to wonder if, for some, seeing will really be believing.
There was no video, other than the aftermath, of most of what happened in Benghazi in the terrible 2012 attack on the U.S. consulate that killed four. Charges of cover-up and conspiracy theories have been unending, however. Some critics of the Obama administration and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have been relentless in their attacks and Fox News has been obsessed with Benghazi. Yet numerous investigations have debunked the claims and innuendos that there is nefarious scandal involved.
The most recent of the many Benghazi investigation reports received minimal notice even though it came from the Republican-controlled House Intelligence Committee. The report cleared the CIA, the military and Obama administration officials of any wrongdoing, just as have the many other inquiries.
Nonetheless, the brigade of Benghazi critics insists on pursuing further investigations, unable to accept their foregone conclusions were not justified.
Then there's the Senate Intelligence Committee "torture" report that details the brutal U.S. treatment of terror suspects. Many dismiss it as just another partisan report since it was written by Democrats. A Wall Street Journal editorial called it "a collection of partisan second-guessing." Critics say it is inaccurate and point out that CIA officials involved with the interrogations were not interviewed. However, the committee examined millions of CIA documents and CIA Director John Brennan admitted "abhorrent" methods were used on detainees and said it was "unknowable" whether harsh interrogation techniques yielded useful intelligence.
Dick Cheney and his followers don't want to admit that the barbaric treatment of prisoners actually occurred or will seek to justify it on grounds it produced important information, though the report says otherwise.
One Republican who believes Americans should know what's in the report is Sen. John McCain, who was tortured while a prisoner in North Vietnam. McCain said the interrogation techniques fly in the face of everything America stands for and did much harm and little good.
Although much of the debate on this report has been on partisan lines, politically driven perspectives should not obscure the reality many of us don't want to believe, and what is indisputably a shameful stain on American values -- and opens this nation to charges of hypocrisy as the self-proclaimed champion of human rights.
And all of the cases noted here point to the importance of being open to information and viewpoints that might challenge our preordained beliefs.
HOYT PURVIS IS A JOURNALISM AND INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS PROFESSOR.
Commentary on 12/21/2014