What Politicians Never Learn - Truth Does Matter
by Thomas D. Segel (9/5/09)
Harlingen, Texas, September 4, 2009: It is a very old joke, but for many Americans it still rings true. The question is asked, “How can you tell if a politician is lying?” The answer is, “His lips are moving!” For most of America today, the “Liar” brand has been firmly burned into the persona of the political elite. In survey after survey there is the same group of people placed at the bottom of the list of respected professions. Held in the lowest of esteem are journalists, celebrities, telemarketers, lawyers, used car salesmen and politicians. Some lists place the used car salesmen at the bottom of the heap, but others reserve that special location for the politicians.
Those who make “America’s Least Trusted List” are the same individuals that over an extended period of time we have come to associate with dishonesty. We know the “spin” or omissions of journalists, plus out and out falsehoods advanced by the Fifth Estate, have changed the reporting clan into a body of people we can no longer trust. The drama and the very nature of those who must take on another persona to validate their existence add up to ingredients that allow celebrities to make the same list. Few in America think an honest statement will ever come out of a telemarketer’s mouth and lawyers are infamous for placing the winning of their court battles ahead of truth or justice. The negative imprint of the used car salesman is understood by anyone who has come in contact that that special breed of human. “Say anything to make the sale” is their not-so golden rule. These are the people who make promises, deal under the table, and offer gifts that never materialize. They wink, nod, make false pledges and stroke the citizen just to get a name on the dotted line. Doesn’t that also sound like just about every politician now in office?
When you have a hard time believing anything that an individual says, it is impossible to trust in any promised outcome. That is exactly the problem with all of the proposed legislation, the results of legislation already in place, and the promises of legislation for the future. The suggestions about change and the day-to-day statements of the Administration and Congress ring hollow. There are ever growing numbers of questioning Americans who expect their elected and appointed officials to tell them the truth…and it rarely, if ever, happens.
People who either through feelings of shame or in an attempt to deceive the public, hide their true political leanings are also very likely to garner a feeling of distrust among Americans who seriously study the subject of governance.
When American communism fell from favor in the late 1940s, communists found a place to hide inside the labor movement and within the Democrat Party. They found that socialists were also held suspect and changed their identifying terminology to progressives. Even today, American Socialists understand that socialism is a dirty word in the heartland and continue to call themselves progressives. They know that claiming their true allegiance will automatically move them into that “least trusted’ group of citizens.
Today there are 80 members of the House of Representatives and two members of the Senate who have signed their names as members of the Progressive (read Socialist) Caucus. Among the more recognizable people are Senators Bernie Sanders and Tom Udall. Progressive, or Socialist House members include Barney Frank, Jesse Jackson, Bernice Johnson, Ed Markey Jim McDermott, Charles Rangel, Maxine Waters, Henry Waxman, John Conyers, Sheila Jackson and Dennis Kucinich. All have been associated with unpopular bills or proposed legislation, hateful rhetoric, blatantly political committee hearings and in some cases suspected illegal activity.
The socialist game plan is to substitute group decision making for the will of the individual. This is being done in the Obama Administration by substituting the decision making of Thirty-Two (32) unelected and unconfirmed czars for the individual citizen’s decisions through the ballot box. Among that band of 32 there are admitted communists, socialists, anarchists, abortion advocates, and race baiters. The czars are very unpopular with the American public and none are trusted.
Even the President has come to be a person many are unwilling to trust. He has made too many promises that have already been reversed. He has been associated with too many questionable people such as the former Weather Underground radicals William Ayers and Bernadine Dolm, the America hating Reverend Jeremiah Wright and the criminal Tony Resko, all of whom he discounted as meaningless contacts or casual acquaintances. In the case of Reverend Wright, Obama claimed he sat in the congregation for 20 years and never heard any radical statements. He also forgot to mention his involvement in the Chicago Democratic Socialists of America and forgets he labored hard as an employee of the now tainted ACORN organization. Distrust of the President’s agenda keeps mounting. It has reached the point where even an address by the President to schoolchildren has become suspect.
Just as those of us who write political commentary will manage to alienate a large segment of the population, the same will hold true for any politician who champions a particular political party. What the political elite never seem to realize, however, is what they say…matters. Once a politician is identified as a “Liar”, her or she not only loses to the opposition, but also loses the good will of those who might support a person who spoke and acted in a truthful manner. Still, they never seem to get the message. In our personal lives and “always” in public life…truth does matter.
Semper Fidelis
Thomas D. Segel
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