By Edwin Cooney
“Politicians
just don’t tell the truth!” That
constituency complaint is much older than even the American experiment in free
government. Even more significant is the
fact that much of the time lately politicians and opinion makers make it almost
impossible for the voters to distinguish between principle and truth. That circumstance obscures the three most
significant and mind-numbing truths of our day.
First,
a high percentage of twenty-first century American voters are more interested
in the dramatics of politics than they are interested in or knowledgeable about
the processes of good government. Ask
yourself how much you know about what it takes for Congress to pass a law
compared to what you know about the assets and liabilities of our more
prominent politicians? Second, there’s
more immediate profit in socio/political dramatics than there is in problem
solving. Third, most politicians and
opinion makers obscure the difference between truth and morality.
A
few days ago, I got a response to last week’s column from a very sweet friend
of mine. Here’s what she wrote:
“Hillary would
not get my vote because of dishonesty and for fighting dirty! What really makes me say something to that
effect is the response she gave to President Obama. I believe that response
was: “what difference does it make?”
If one does
not tell the truth, it makes a lot of difference
Hopefully
before election day, some of Hillary’s friends will point this out to her.”
You don’t have
to concur with my friend’s observation in order to grasp the confusion between
truth and morality that she and millions of Americans share. This sweet intelligent lady is dedicated to
both truth and morality. They are her
guiding stars. Such being the case, she
and most of her fellow citizens believe that those who are moral are always
truthful. Hence, truth and morality go
hand in hand.
So, here’s a
truth: Hillary Clinton “fights dirty.”
Here’s another truth: “Hillary Clinton is the object of dirty scheming
politics and politicians as is her husband, the man many partisan but patriotic
Americans call “Slick Willie.” Here’s
still another truth: much but by no means all of the opposition to President
Barack Obama, especially from southern conservatives, is because he’s
black. Much of the president’s support
from blacks and liberals is due to the same reason.
More broadly
speaking, here are a few truths you won’t find emphasized in too many American
history books. The reason we rebelled against Great Britain is that we didn’t
want to pay for the seven years war that Great Britain fought, largely on our
behalf, against the French and the Indians to ensure our safety as well as to ensure
the value of land owned by rich southern plantation owners north and west of
the Ohio River.
Here’s still
another truth. One of our grievances
against King George III was that he forbade settlements more than 300 miles
west of the sources of eastern rivers because they would likely cause too many
conflicts with Native Americans.
Finally, one
of the main reasons Texans fought Mexican rule during the 1830s was that the
Catholic Church and the Mexican government sought to ban slavery in Texas. In other words, the freedom of white men was
precious, even a matter of morality. The
freedom of black men was worth nothing. (This historic truth makes Davy
Crocket, Colonel Travis and Colonel Bowie lose their historic luster for me!) Almost
from the beginning of our great republic, we’ve been less than truthful about
our motives even as we have advanced (arguably) the best form of government on
earth.
In order to promote and document public policies, politicians – be they
named Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, Ted Cruz, John Kasich, or
Donald Trump -- all insist that truth
(moral truth, that is) is the basis for every doctrine, policy, or purpose they
advocate. We require our political
leaders to wrap their policies and principles from both the Bible and the
American Constitution.
Most uncomfortable of all is the fact that both truth and morality are
largely circumstantial. We often don’t
tell loved ones that they are fatally ill.
We often withhold the details of unfortunate personal conflicts from
both family and friends to avoid additional personal complications between
innocent friends and family members.
Truth-telling strictly for socio/political advantage or for personal
control over others invariably imprisons us in fear and anger. Truth-telling “sets us free” when it reveals
information about events and circumstances that men and women of good will,
personal integrity, objectivity, and wisdom can alter.
Oh, yah, one more thing. There is
no such thing as absolute or unconditional truth! I’d suggest that you could “bank” on that but
the history of banking reveals much that’s quite unreliable and most certainly
less than truthful!
RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED,
EDWIN COONEY
No comments:
Post a Comment