I spent 2019 and half of 2020 taking a hiatus from journalism to serve as a campaign speechwriter, but I’ll admit: I’m not much for most political speeches — flowery odes to unity, purpose, and the American spirit tend to make me feel drowsy, which (fine, call my cynical) is usually their intended anesthetizing effect.

But there was one meaningful passage in President Joe Biden’s inaugural address that spoke to me as a journalist — a passage many media outlets interpreted as a shot at his predecessor, but which was also an inadvertent-but-necessary indictment of our civic culture, the news media, and public officials, including Biden himself.

“There is truth and there are lies — lies told for power and for profit,” Biden said. “And each of us has a duty and responsibility, as citizens, as Americans, and especially as leaders — leaders who have pledged to honor our Constitution and protect our nation — to defend the truth and to defeat the lies.”