Good news for those who prefer tales over the truth: CBS News has decided that its moderators for the vice presidential debate will not engage in fact-checking.

This is a smart move. For one, Sen. JD Vance from Ohio doesn’t handle facts well – that’s just a reality – and nobody wants the debate halted if his aides have to rush in to save him.

More crucially, facts seem to be beneath many, and Republicans, especially Donald Trump, have shown extreme anger towards fact-checking.

Republicans believe fact-checkers should face serious repercussions

During the inaugural presidential debate between Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, ABC News hosts David Muir and Linsey Davis corrected four of Trump’s many falsehoods. This prompted a public outcry from GOP commentators and officials, including Trump, who felt that such journalism was profoundly inappropriate.

The CEO of The Federalist, a well-known right-leaning publication, outrageously suggested on social media: “Revoke ABC’s broadcasting license and pursue criminal charges against the moderators and executives for campaign finance violations.”

How dare journalists correct Trump when he claimed that legal Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, were involved in cannibalism. If you view the presentation of facts as a crime, then real-time fact-checking becomes a serious offense. If Trump were in charge, those moderators might have faced immediate arrest. (And that’s the truth.)

CBS News capitulated to Trump’s influence and will not fact-check during the VP debate

It’s obvious that CBS News moderators for the vice presidential debate heard the complaints from Trump and his followers loud and clear, and subsequently decided to yield to those not-so-democratic defenders of rapid-fire deceit.

According to Claudia Milne, CBS News’ senior vice president for standards and practices, the intention of the debate is to ensure a productive discussion between candidates, allowing them to fact-check one another on the spot.

The network will publish fact-checks online later, cleverly sidestepping accountability for either participant while mitigating the likelihood of the public discovering the truth.

This arrangement enables Vance – who tends to lie whenever he’s speaking – to say anything on stage while his rival, Gov. Walz, will struggle to respond amidst Vance’s constant deceit.

An imagined exchange in a no-fact-checking vice presidential debate

Here’s a fictional scenario illustrating how the debate might unfold without fact-checking:

Vance: “Vice President Kamala Harris is against the child tax credit, which I believe is terrible.”

Moderators: “Gov. Walz, how do you respond?”

Walz: “That’s not true at all. The vice president has consistently supported the child tax credit and aims to increase it. Sen. Vance is spreading misinformation, and you’re just letting him state things that are plainly false without any challenge.”

Moderators: “Understood.”

Vance: “You know, Tim Walz has a peculiar taste for cats. His neighbors claim they’ve stopped getting cats because the governor would continuously steal and feast on them. He even had frequent barbecues with a group of satanic friends where they dined on cats.”

Moderators: “Governor Walz, any comments?”

Walz: “Comments? Are you serious? He’s just fabricating stories!”

Moderators: “Alright, moving on to the next question …”

Trump is already spreading election-denial myths

This is precisely how a significant political discourse ought to unfold at a time when one major political party seems to reside in a fabricated reality.

For instance, CNN reported on Monday that Trump “has made at least 12 separate misleading statements over the last couple of months that unfoundedly question the legitimacy of a potential win by Vice President Kamala Harris.”

In line with the Trump-aligned ABC News idea that fact-checking opposes their narrative, those behind that CNN report should face legal consequences for what they deem crimes against dishonesty, while the network’s broadcasting rights ought to be revoked.

Why check facts for those who constantly fabricate stories?

On the same day, Trump was in Georgia following Hurricane Helene and commented about the state’s Republican governor, Brian Kemp, stating: “The governor is doing well, but he’s struggling to reach the president. They are being quite unresponsive.”

Editorial: Trump made false claims regarding mail-in voting, and now the GOP is investing millions to correct his blunders.

Earlier that same day, however, Kemp stated he had spoken to President Joe Biden on Sunday, saying: “He mentioned that if there are other needs, I can reach out to him directly, which I truly appreciate.”

Should Trump’s statement be subjected to fact-checking? Absolutely not. It is up to the public to discern the truthfulness of any politician. This principle is rooted in the Bible and likely in the U.S. Constitution, and I bet it comes up many times in Alexis de Tocqueville’s renowned book “Democracy in America.”

Tim Walz can say whatever he wants during the debate. Who’s going to challenge him?

Americans don’t require elaborate “news” outlets to distinguish between truth and falsehood. In fact, they might not even need to understand that such a distinction exists.

I’m pretty sure President George Washington was the one who remarked, “The greatest form of democracy is believing in whatever you choose. Post that (expletive) on my Instagram!”

So cheers to CBS News for demonstrating the patriotic and journalistic acumen to meekly surrender to the political faction that is most averse to fact-checking.

And good luck to Governor Walz; he should counterattack with vigor by opening with: “Good evening. My challenger JD Vance, known for his affection for a paisley sectional sofa, has allegedly committed the mass murder of 143 circus clowns.”