May 17, 2003

Politicians lie? Well, call me surprised!

Actual headline at MSNBC: Politicians lie, new study shows

The article says that this study concludes that not only to politicians lie, but that lying is an "important part of democracy" and "[p]oliticians need to be more honest about lying"

Newey said lying by politicians can occasionally be entirely justified, such as when national security is at risk, and the public even has a “right to be lied to” in cases where they do not expect to be told the whole truth, such as during a war.

But the main cause of lying is increased probing by the public into areas that the government would rather not discuss candidly. If voters only asked fewer questions, politicians would tell them fewer lies.

If the government would realize that the voters have a right to know certain things - maybe not the details of their personal lives, but certainly actions that are relevant to the performance of their jobs or may have an impact on their ability to uphold their duties and obligations to the citizens - maybe we wouldn't have to ask so many questions, no?

I do understand that, in the interest of national security, there are times when the government must not necessarily tell us the absolute truth. However, I believe those times are few and far between, and do not include matters that may be embarassing to the government, but which do not actually threaten our safety or security in any way, or which may show that the government is corrupt - something I think citizens have an absolute right to be able to find out.

Aside from those rare circumstances where being totally forthright could cause serious problems (such as revealing the whereabouts of troops or troop movements, the timing of an attack or other such military information that rely upon surprise or secrecy for the protection of the troops and effective action), I feel that government should be open and relatively transparent. It is supposed to be government "of the people, by the people and for the people" which means the people are a rather important part of the equation and need to know what's going on in order to make wise choices about who we will elect to govern us.

Posted by thorswitch at May 17, 2003 11:34 PM | TrackBack


Comments

This is right up there with that study which discovered that college students do a lot of binge drinking.

Posted by: Christopher Key at May 18, 2003 01:23 AM

I personally believe that politically and probably also socially, our country is tottering. My feeling is that we are already in the midst of a constitutional crisis, but it's been slo slow in developing that no one has really taken notice of it. The water in the pot is around 180 degrees and our poor little frog is just starting to sense that maybe all is not well afterall.

But people *are* noticing, this study being one example. The problem is that there is too little distance between our researchers, thinkers and reporters to the government (and other power centers) that they are supposed to be watching. As a result, very obvious problems instead get spun into a positive light instead of being seen for what they really are.

"So yes," one frog in the pot tell another, "the human told me it will feel a little warm, but this is the hottest it will get, and in just a few minutes things will return to normal." Unfortunately, we know what happens to the frogs...

Posted by: Vince at May 18, 2003 02:04 AM

I'm part of a very small clique who holds the belief that it is high time for American progressives to wake up to the fact that Democrats lie like Republicans do. Actually, I think most of those who press me to vote Democratic know this, but think it's just fine not to deliver on promises like single-payer health insurance, regulation of energy, repeal of the Patriot Act, etc.

The best response I've ever heard from a Democrat after I've covered my grievances is "I'll get back to you". They flicker and flash for the latest "hope" who appears, this year, to be Howard Dean. Alas, when the DLC extinguishes his candle, they will march behind whoever the Dems pick out of "party loyalty".

I vote my conscience and I vote for a difference. The Democrats have, in these past twenty years, a track record of promising new things and never, ever, delivering on them.

That's the cruelest lie of all when the constituency you count on depends on you to make Government work for them instead of Big Oil and Big Finance.

Posted by: Joel at May 18, 2003 02:41 AM

Oh, I have no doubt that the Democrats lie just as much as anyone else. I tend not to trust politicians in general. I just still have that naive hope that maybe, someday, they'll figure out that doing so is, well, wrong. In the meantime, I try and make others aware of at least some of the lies going on (trying to make people aware of them all would take an army), in the hopes that maybe they'll wake up and enough of us can start demanding better of our government.

Posted by: kriselda jarnsaxa at May 18, 2003 03:54 AM

DEMOCRAT SEN. R.BYRD A KLANSMAN.

DEMOCRATS HATE BLACK AMERICANS,HOW MANY BLACKS DID DEM BYRD KILL IN WEST VA.?

Posted by: GARY ALAN at August 1, 2003 09:02 AM