Where America stands - The Truth
In the days before the primary election on Feb. 5, Progressive Nashville takes a look at where America stands on some important issues and, on Friday, where we should be going.
Today we look at perhaps the greatest casualty of the past 30 years, the truth.
Last week we learned that President Bush and the nation's top leaders lied 935 times about the threat Iraq posed to the United States and that's just in the time leading up to the invasion. We've learned as early as 2004 that Iran has no program, yet the Bush administration continued to claim up to last November that it did. Even then, the administration paused only briefly before starting up again with its claims that Iran is a threat.
America had learned before that the administration had told lies., but the response to the volume of the lies that were told was understated. The news did not make The Tennessean and many other newspapers in America. Nor did it become the buzz around office water coolers, bars or other gathering spots. The news that the nation's leaders, the people we trust with our future, repeatedly lied to us, was accepted as not newsworthy.
Starting with Ronald Reagan, the definition of truth became a moving target. Reagan deservedly earned the title of "Great Communicator." Reagan was a larger than life figure who innately knew how to speak about issues in ways that connected with America at large. That skill was paired with a new effort in media management that used Reagan where he was at his strongest and employed spin control when they wished to separate the leader from less positive news.
The technique served Reagan well when the news of Iran-Contra scandal surfaced and it allowed Reagan to claim no knowledge of the events resulting in a public that was both willing to accept the explanation and not to question how the commander-in-chief could allow such activities to happen without his knowledge.
This time was also the beginning of the media's lackluster efforts to be a government watchdog. The Reagan administration was successful in managing the news in a way that met reporters' deadline demands without the need to dig for stories. The press was a willing accomplice and as future administrations honed the techniques developed under Reagan, the press became more comfortable with the relationship.
The first Bush administration gave America its first televised war with dramatic images literally delivered from the nosecones of missiles. The lackluster administration drew little media scrutiny and little information beyond the ability to read George H.W. Bush's lips.
Truth fared no better in the first Clinton administration with the words "I did not have sex with that woman." Clinton clearly hoped to dodge the obvious question of what happened in a private White House office by narrowly defining the definition of sex. Clinton's intent was anything but honesty.
Truth received the equivalent of a back-alley beating during the George W. Bush administration with repeated lies about threats posed by Iraq and Iran. Vice President Cheney, with a straight face, claimed he was a member of the legislative branch. After accidentally shooting a friend during a hunting trip, Cheney notified the White House hours later. The White House press secretary didn't find out until the next day, only shortly before the American public learned of the incident.
Disregard for the truth took its most dangerous turn with Alberto Gonzalez's testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee when he claimed 64 times that he could not recall or remember incidents relating to the firing of federal prosecutors. The market value of truth reached its lowest level during this hearing with the attorney general, the nation's top law enforcement officer, using legal technicalities to avoid telling the truth.
Truth is an essential requirement for a free society to function. In business, government, personal relations and any situation that involves more than one person, truth is the basic commodity upon which all others are based. When truth has no value, peace, justice and freedom itself are in jeopardy.
If America is to move forward both domestically and internationally, we must be a credible nation, whose leaders can be trusted to value truth, even if its policies are suspect.
- Jim Grinstead
See also:
Comments