Monday, September 13, 2010

At What Point Does Truth Become Relevant in Politics? What is the White House Example?

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It is after Labor Day and politics in America will reach a crescendo over the next 6 weeks as both political parties inundate the airways with political propaganda in the form of TV ads. Of course the TV stations and networks will run every ad booked regardless of the accuracy of content because the media needs the money more than the truth.

There was once upon a time when the media was required to review the ads to make certain the truth was being told but once upon a time is no more. Now anything goes no matter how far it strays from the truth. Since both political parties and special interests have filled their campaign coffers with astounding amounts of cash we are in for a real avalanche of double talk.


You can count on the candidates and parties to follow the lead of the Obama White House as he is leader of the Democrats and will set the standard of truth for all to meet. Unfortunately the standard being set by President Obama, and his top staff David Axelrod, Political Director, and Robert Gibbs, Press Secretary leaves much to be desired.

Over the weekend all three stated emphatically that the Republicans, all Republicans to hear them say it, are committed to returning to the policies of George Bush over the past 8 years. In plain English as Harry Truman used to say, that is a lie. No Republican has said they want to return to the George Bush policy of the past 8 years. Why do our political leaders seem compelled to tell lies? Especially those leaders at the top of the Democratic party?


While we should always be suspect of what the political parties say as they are all about self-preservation it is not normal for the White House and the president of all the people to join in the tall tale derby as we can usually get some modicum of truth from our highest elected official. This year seems to be the exception and does not bode well for America as blatant lies foreshadow a willingness to distort the truth and there should be no doubt that our president tells the truth.

If the president cannot be believed on the campaign trail then how can he be believed when talking about health care, Wall Street, domestic and foreign affairs or any aspect of our government? All that is gained in the interest of political expediency by distorting the truth is undermining the credibility of government which has already reached the lowest levels of credibility ever recorded.


If it continues it will be a sad legacy of the political attitudes in place today and the principal motivation for people to want to throw them all out. The politics of deception has no place in a democracy built on truth and honesty.
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