Why is it so difficult for people in the public eye to shoot it straight with the rest of us? One would think the mere presence of the bright light of public opinion would be more than enough to keep people in check. Amazingly, the information driven world we live in seems to reinforce it.
You can tell a lie in the morning and by the evening all is forgiven after the offender offers up the latest in a long line of perfunctory and disingenuous apologies. Of course sometimes apologies aren’t required. The lie is told and then the offender is called on it and simply shrugs the shoulders and offers up a lame excuse as to why he or she said it in the first place. All is forgiven and we all move on to the next round.
I have a theory and as with all theories, it might be right or it might be wrong. Here goes. I think we, the people, are so fed up with our political leaders across the board that we are no longer surprised when we are fed a batch of lies. We have become numb and are starting to not listen to anything the politicians tell us. That may be exactly what they want us to do.
Think about the political environment we find ourselves in right now. There are basically two camps of people who believe they are absolutely right and the other camp is absolutely wrong. The dwindling undecided among us are being harassed and inundated with messages by both camps in an attempt to secure their support. This 50/50-world we live in seems to be getting worse. Each camp digs in a little deeper each day and each day any attempt to actually get something positive accomplished is lost.
And just like children fighting on a playground, it is always the other guy’s fault. The mystery to me is why do we as partners in this experiment called the United States of America continue to put up with this. I know we all care. I know we all have issues that are important to us. But dealing in absolutes will not accomplish anything at all. Apparently it is okay to some that nothing gets accomplished as long as they get their way. Actually it is likely more important that the other side doesn’t get their way.
And so we continue on down the road toward a future that is filled with question marks and uncertainty. It doesn’t have to be this way. But if it is going to change, we the people, need to get some backbone and tell the leaders of whichever camp we are in that the time has come to get real and to get something done. We want collaboration, not confrontation. We want solutions, not platitudes. In other words, get in the room together and get to work. The time has come for a little less talk and lot more action.
And by the way, some of us are starting to pay closer attention. That means you better stop telling lies and trying to slide by on the facts. As the saying goes: Always tell the truth. It’s easier to remember.
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