Maybe this is all our fault. We've been writing these Sunday morning screeds for the last ten years. Pontificating on whatever tickled our fancy each week. Shoving our opinions into the ether of cyberspace. And they are merely our opinions or reflections or observations. But we think we're telling you the truth.

I've noticed something lately, though. There are no facts anymore. Everything is a matter of opinion. And I don't mean just in what we write, but everywhere. In everything. For every certifiable fact, there is a differing opinion. Not just the interpretation of the fact, but whether or not this fact is true. And so everything becomes relative. I don't think this is what Einstein was talking about.

Maybe it's always been this way, and I just didn't notice. There was that time when all the cigarette makers swore to congress they didn't know whether cigarettes were addictive or if they posed a health problem for people who smoked them. They certainly didn't think these were facts, they were merely opinions of people who wanted to stop good Americans from making their meager living. Well, those opinions about cigarettes were, in fact, true. But these guys who made tons of money from selling cigarettes weren't sure. The jury was still out on those facts as far as they were concerned. And you know what, they have never been held accountable for their false opinion about these facts. Just a month or so ago, a judge threw out their billions of dollars of fines for lying to congress and selling addictive and unhealthy products to the American people. So maybe they were telling the truth.

We were told facts about why we were supposed to go to war with Iraq. Saddam Hussein was an imminent threat against the security of our nation. Terrorists were in cahoots with Saddam. They had weapons of mass destruction capable of taking us all out. They were developing the nuclear bomb. We were all gonna die really soon if we didn't kill them first. It was, in fact, self-defense if we went in right then to take out the government of Iraq. Anyone who suggesting these facts were untrue were no kind of patriots at all. In fact, they might have even been terrorists in disguise.

But since that time, we've found these facts were not really facts at all. They actually were opinions of a few people, and most were completely made up just so we'd go to war. All of these things were untrue. And have been proved untrue.

But don't call the administration liars. Even though what they said were, in fact, lies. Because a lot of people believe all of these things are true. Even now.

In truth, all facts are now in doubt. If you believe something. It's true. It's a fact. If you do not believe something, it is a lie--or at least highly debatable. And since we can find somewhere on the Internet a document supporting our belief, no one ever really lies. And no one really tells the truth.

So can we believe in anything? Sure. Believe what you want and you'll never be wrong. You're not a liar if you don't think you are.

At the same time, we seem to want facts and laws to govern us. A popular series of beer commercials is all about setting standards in the world of men. A panel featuring a cross-section of has-beens and never will be actors pontificate about laws of men. Because we want to be sure we're following the laws while we're drinking.

Of course, we don't all listen to this unelected panel of men talking about manly things. Because they aren't real laws. They are just the beliefs of a couple of writers in New York. And, who knows, the guys who wrote the commercials might not believe them either. They may just like inflaming the whole argument between men and women. Which is, essentially, that men are stupid and women are crazy.

Is it a fact that men are stupid and women are crazy? If you did a poll, this might appear to be the prevailing belief. But maybe we say we believe this because it gives us permission to do really stupid shit to each other.

Why did I get drunk and sleep with your best friend? Because I'm stupid. Why did you max out my credit card on shoes? Because you're crazy.

This is good for people like me. The principal reason we write on the Internet instead of for a newspaper or reputable news organization is we play loose with facts from time to time. We have opinions and don't want to run them through a committee. And we present these opinions as point of fact. Usually with an air of superiority. In fact, this opinion as fact doctrine has been adopted by many major cable TV news outlets, too.

Does this mean it is true we really did start this worldwide phenomenon of opinion and beliefs as fact? It is if you say it is.

But, if we truly started this, I want a royalty check from everyone else on the planet.

Matt Worley and his two brothers started writing Shut Up, I'm Talking columns ten years ago this weekend. But it is a matter of contention between the three about who actually came up with the name. Of course, the fact is, Matt came up with it. Unless you ask the other two.