Campaign Lies...Is There Anyone Left to Tell Us the Truth?
At the outset of this post, I’d like to say that I have been and continue to be a supporter of Barack Obama for president of the United States. He is, in my view, the best of the three viable candidates running and I fervently hope it is who takes to oath of office in January of 2009.
Having made my view clear, let me make a few comments about political campaigns based on a piece of literature I received today from the Obama campaign. The campaign brochure states the following:
“AS PRESIDETN, BARACK OBAMA WILL:
- End the war in Iraq.
- Provide every American with health coverage.
- Reform Student loan problems and create a $4,000 refundable tax credit for college.
- Make long-term investment in training, and workforce development.
- End our dependence on Middle East oil.
- Save our planet from the crisis of climate change.
- Take on special interests and lobbyists.”
This is what Obama promises to do. Let’s take a look at what he actually could do if he were elected president. Obama, as president and commander in chief, could end the war in Iraq. We can give him that one.
He cannot provide every American with health care. Only congress can pass that legislation. If a future congress was inclined to act, he could then sign the legislation congress passed. For this primise, he is helpless without congress.
Reform the student loan program? Again, not unless congress acts first, although through the department of education, the president has some power to influence the student loan program. We can give him a partial on this one. The tax credit, however, must be enacted by congress.
Workforce development? This he may be able to do through the labor department. We can give him this one as well.
End our dependence on Middle East oil? This is a joke. I cannot believe his campaign expects us to believe this one. We can go a long way toward becoming oil independent but it is going to take more than the eight years Obama could expect to be in office. With billions of dollars invested and a go-to-the-moon like effort, we could become oil independent in perhaps 20 years.
Save our planet from climate change? Another joke. As president, Obama might encourage Americans to do our part, but this is a world issue. What can the American president do about polluters, like China, Russia, and others? What can the American president do about South-American countries that wish to cut down their forests?
Take on lobbyists? He can do it with respect to the White House, but he cannot keep lobbyists out of congress. We can give him another partial for this one.
What can we conclude from this? Is Obama simply ignorant of what a president in our democracy can do or is he simply a liar? Well, I hope neither. I’m certain Barack Obama is fully aware of just what the powers of the president are. Obviously, his campaign promises mean is that he intends to try to accomplish these things.
Obama’s campaign communicators believe that [and I think they are correct in this belief] we will not vote for a candidate that actually told the truth and said “I will try …” rather than “I will do…”
I don’t like it, but I believe all of this makes two statements about the state of our political campaigning and, more important, about the shallowness of American voters.
First, if one candidate spoke the truth as she or he understood it to be and another spoke lies that made us feel good and seemed to support ideas we like, we would elect the liar and leave the truth teller out.
Second, if ever there were any truth tellers in American politics, we have pretty much weeded them all out. So if we really did want political campaigners to tell us the unvarnished truth, I don’t think we could find anyone who actually knows how to do it. The truth tellers are all in some other line of work. We, as a voting nation, have created exactly the government we deserve.
I have not received campaign literature from Hillary Clinton or John McCain, but I suspect when I do, I will find that literature equally as devoid of truth as I found Obama’s material.
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Bob Hertzog wrote: First,
There you have it!
http://anythinggoesforum.us/
"What you won't hear from this campaign or this party is the kind of politics that uses religion as a wedge, and patriotism as a bludgeon -- that sees our opponents not as competitors to challenge, but enemies to demonize." – Barack Obama, June 3, 2008
Hello Sippy. thanks for
Hello Sippy. thanks for the comment.
So, what are we to do? A democracy depends on the people (voters) making intelligent choices. I wonder if we really want to be told the truth. We all say we do, but do we really want the truth? I also wonder if anyone can really know the truth, in this extremely complex world in which we live. In any event, all we have is our democracy. We just have to make the best of it. Below is a quote attributed to Winston Churchill that really expresses my view of democracy.
"Many forms of Government have been tried, and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed, it has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time."
Bob, What about local
Bob, What about local level lies. Councilman Artie Pepelea all four years of the smith administration he did not want any of the commission brokerage fees for the insurance he sold the city( which I understand is terrible). then during his campaign for re-election last year he still did not want the money for the good of the city. Now he is suing the city for excess of $72,000.00. Talk about campaign lies.
Hello Colts Fan, Thanks
Hello Colts Fan, Thanks for the comment.
I live in Richmond so I don't know anything about your local politicians, but my guess is there are liars there too. However, I think it is more difficult to get away with lies on the local level. The issues are usually less complex and it is easier for voters to know exactly what is going on. I suspect there is more truth in local politics than in national or even state-wide politics.
By the way, it might be interesting to discuss just what constitutes truth in political communication. When there are state-wide and national issues, what is true for some people may not be true for others. When it comes to campaign promises, truth may be even more illusive. This point certainly does not mean that politicians get a pass for their campaign promises. We voters should hold their feet firmly to the fire.
Bob, I honestly don't know
Bob, I honestly don't know which bugs me more......women and children who vote how their husbands and fathers tell them to, which is common where I live, or people who don't vote at all. Both are a disgrace to the people who fought and died to give all of us the right to vote, IMO. Is it too much to ask voters to do their homework, as best they can, and make an educated/informed choice?
http://anythinggoesforum.us/
"What you won't hear from this campaign or this party is the kind of politics that uses religion as a wedge, and patriotism as a bludgeon -- that sees our opponents not as competitors to challenge, but enemies to demonize." – Barack Obama, June 3, 2008
Hello Sippy, I don't
Hello Sippy, I don't think it is too late for people to do their homework, but certainly by now our choices are considerably limited from what they were a few months ago. But, I don't think they will do their homework. In my view, Americans are too complacent about their political leaders. No system is perfect and democracy is messy. Even Plato thought democracy was a bad idea. He thought philosophers should be the kings. So, as I asked above, what else can we do?
It seems to me not quite as hopeless as what I have written here and in previous posts might make it appear. Americans usually do come to their senses eventually. Bush's welcome has finally worn itself out. The nation was fooled by him for years, but now they at least know the truth about him and I don't think we will replace him with McCain. Will a Democrat be better? Who knows? But, I hope so!
I don't know the answer.
I don't know the answer. I wish I did. Part of the problem is mis-information. There are so many lies printed about all the candidates. Those who wish not to support a particular candidate can find a reason not to, whether it's real or not. These people don't want to hear the truth so I guess there's nothing much we as individuals can do other than get out and vote, and then hold our elected officials accountable while they're in office.
I think a monkey would do better at this point. While Obama may have aspirations he'll never be able to reach, at least he seems to be pointed in the right direction.
http://anythinggoesforum.us/
"What you won't hear from this campaign or this party is the kind of politics that uses religion as a wedge, and patriotism as a bludgeon -- that sees our opponents not as competitors to challenge, but enemies to demonize." – Barack Obama, June 3, 2008
Sippy Wrote: "While Obama
Sippy Wrote: "While Obama may have aspirations he'll never be able to reach, at least he seems to be pointed in the right direction."
Could not agree more!