A group of linguists declared "truthiness" - a phrase coined during the first episode of The Colbert Report - as the 2005 word of the year. Truthiness, according to the Urban Dictionary, is "the quality of stating concepts one wishes or believes to be true, rather than the facts."

Truthiness is nothing new. In fact, truthiness may play a bigger role in how we live our lives than the truth. Most of our belief systems (whether religious, national, or political) are nothing more than concepts we wish to be true in absense of the facts. We write our history with truthiness and we govern with truthiness.

That said, truthiness may apply more to the political arena than any other. During the episode, Colbert said, "I don't trust books. They're all fact, no heart." During campaigns you often hear about the character and "heart" of a candidate. In what other sector can you land a job with no factual qualifications or proven results?

Which brings me to my nomination for the 2005 truthiness of the year. Spoken by George W. Bush, it is simply:

"Brownie, you're doing a heckuva job."

Related: Maverick Views