The worst trouble I ever got in as a kid was for lying. The punishment for lying was far more severe than the punishment for sassing or fighting with the neighbor kid or getting home late. “You go to the same place for lying that you do for stealing,” my dad would say, leaving me with the conviction that to be a liar was one of the worst things one could possibly be, a wasted soul destined for eternal doom.
In our age there is no such thing as ‘keeping out of politics.’ All issues are political issues, and politics itself is a mass of lies, evasions, folly, hatred and schizophrenia.
~ George Orwell, “Politics and the English Language” essay, 1946
Somehow, in the blissful ignorance of childhood, I developed the notion that mature, responsible adults always tell the truth, even when it hurts, and if they accidentally repeat a lie, they take responsibility for their error and correct it.
Now as an adult, I’m frequently horrified to find there’s an entire contingent of humans who “lie like a rug” for their own benefit. They lie to protect themselves, they lie to get hired, they lie to make friends, they lie about their age, their weight, their bank accounts, and their relationship history. And they lie (or worse, hire people to lie for them) in order to get elected.
And that’s what’s got me perturbed.
If you have to manufacture lies in order to get elected… particularly if you have to lie about your opponent instead of putting forth your own thoughts, ideas, and plans… what the heck are you doing running for office in the first place? Worse, you’re lying to people who naively assume you’re telling them the truth and have little to no way to know if your attacks are accurate. It’s repugnant.
There are rules about lying in journalism (libel laws), and there are rules about lying in regular advertising (Federal Trade Commission Act). But just like there are no laws about lying on social media (wouldn’t THAT be a nice change?) there are no rules about lying in political ads. Truth in advertising laws that protect consumers from false advertising don’t apply to candidates for political office.
What does that mean for the average citizen? Political ads, whether it’s the plethora of campaign flyers stuffed in the post office trash can or the ads you see on TV or the internet, and even the ones you see in print, are suspect. The candidates themselves, or the marketing firms they hire, can lie as much as they want with no repercussions. And if they’ll lie about their opponents, who’s to say they aren’t lying about their own platforms and plans once they get into office?
By NIKI TURNER – editor@editorht1885.com