It was surreal. For over an hour on one Friday afternoon, Americans were treated to an event that they haven't seen in years. An intelligent adult, speaking on matters of grave concern to the country with immense political ramifications, in a field in which he was an expert, stood up in front of dozens of top reporters and told ... the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
It's telling that one man, speaking the truth, made us feel giddy. Immediately afterwards there were comments all over the blogosphere: "Fitz for President!"; "Fitz for AG!"; Fitz for SCOTUS!". What an impression was made by this display of honesty on a nation that is literally starving for it: Truth, the exacting rectitude we hear so often that our country is founded upon and the champion for. The legitimacy that is so rarely practiced by the self-appointed purveyors thereof; It left us swooning. And now we have seen it again, we have tasted it for the first time in so long, and we like the flavor: Nothing can substitute for the truth.
Patrick Fitzgerald first laid out the overall context of the issue. He then methodically worked through the case, the evidence, the timeline, and his conclusions on what charges to bring. He did not exaggerate, he did not downplay, he did not spin, he did not cover. And it all made sense, it all locked together; we were awestruck by the precision. Fitzgerald told the truth, and we watched in slack-jawed amazement because we're just not used to that anymore, are we?
And, as if that wasn't enough, the lead prosecutor then fielded questions for almost sixty minutes from every reporter in the room. He played no favorites, he showed no anger. He wasn't speaking from a script, there were no 'talking points'. The man didn't even consult his notes.
He answered every question posed directly, he did not hurry, he did not stall, there was no misdirection. When a question was asked he could not answer, either because he did not know or was legally and ethically bound not to divulge the information, he explained why he couldn't answer. And my God, those explanations not only made sense, and were not only true, they reflected a deep respect radiating from the man at the podium for truth and justice, and for the value of law and consistency.
What a contrast it was to the nightly procession of deceitful contortionists we must endure! Our press corps was stunned, perhaps even a little ashamed, because they have become so conditioned to accept bullshit, spin, evasion, misdirection, and avoidance of open questioning, that most no longer object or even present token interference to the daily barrage of perfidy. And so, this press conference was like manna for the starving. This presser was both a blueprint for what press conferences could be, while offering a subtle back-handed slap at the gaggles they have become. And we drank it in, like we'd found an oasis in the desert, and in a sense that's exactly what we were treated to on that Friday afternoon.
We were stunned because ninety percent of what comes out of a politician's mouth and the media caste--on either side of the political aisle -- is rhetorical nonsense, vague platitudes, and bald-faced whoppers. And the remaining ten percent is usually a facade, material superficially resembling an answer, but upon a closer look constructed of carefully chosen words with double meanings and lending themselves to slippery interpretations, in the event the pundit du jour is called on the veracity of their claim at some future date. It's almost tragic that the simple truth, unfettered by verbose escape hatches, could exhilarate us, lift our spirits, and impress us beyond all expectations, simply because it has become so goddamn rare these days.
Yes, both sides make deals with the liars among us. How many here make excuses for Bill Clinton while chastising Scooter Libby? How many on the right are quickly moved to apologetics when the President's statement that he will shitcan anyone found to have been involved is read back to them?
Both sides negotiate between truth and fiction, practicality and principle. We vote for candidate X over candidate Y because candidate X is less repulsive. "We have to", we tell ourselves, "candidate X isn't so bad, really". And sometimes that makes sense. But do it too often, ignore too many lies, and we are well on the way to selling our soul. It eats away at our integrity like a cancer.
We make deals with the liars, left and right, because we're so conditioned to accept some degree of lying. And we get lied to so much, so often, in so many venues, it's just part of our day. Advertisers spew lies to us from our cradle to grave. Lawyers spin their case, at times convincingly and at times clumsily, to judge and jury. Reporters dutifully repeat lies in their columns and talk shows. But no other lies are so masterfully manufactured and applied as those delivered by religious opportunists.
Even as I write this, all across the nation, political leaders posing as preacher and Priest tell lie after lie after lie from their pulpits stationed at the foot of a giant sculpture of Jesus Christ on the Cross. They speak with self anointed infinite moral authority. The pitchmen and handlers lie convincingly, they lie persuasively, they lie effortlessly, in the name of God, they lie.
They reach deep into the psyche of their followers and mold their very minds using every form of dishonesty known to man, as easily as an inspired artist works his cold dead clay into an illusory masterpiece of living human drama. They deftly manage basal fear, nurture bias, nurse arrogance, and encourage outrage. They cleverly fill their congregators not with love or mercy or compassion, but instead serve a generous helping of hatred, fury, and terror; all designed to motivate them to ignore their own interests and defend their abusive leaders and feudal corporate lords, and always in portions crafted to leave the believer hungering for another fix.
After whipping the masses into a state of utter vulnerability they pass the collection plate and instruct the working class victims to give until it hurts. Then the demon pickpockets of the Pharisees are unleashed in the carefully packaged disguise of tax reform or privatization, while the faithful are admonished to remain under the trance of prayer lest they see behind the curtain. They're told to keep their eyes closed, their lips moving in a softly spoken magic spell praising their deity who made this rape possible, and thankfully accept this violation. To cry out, to complain, to question, will earn only exile for life and hellfire for eternity.
The lies are fed to crops of believers where they are transformed by a marriage of fear, hatred, and arrogance. The ugly spawn of that union is fertilized by political power and divine blessing into a bounty of emotion. It is then harvested by the church, purified by the clergy, washed clean of nagging ethical shortcomings, and re-installed into the faithful as the Holy righteous expression of God's Will on earth, now unadulterated by any trace of guilt or shame. If need be, the eternal soul of long dead prophets are invoked, but the only ghosts to answer the seance are spectres of Herman Goering and the spirit of Orwell's nightmare; the darkest demons of the human Id thus become role models for the believer. Lastly, the masses are then ordered to go forth into the public sphere, recruit new soldiers, with the unspoken goal always in the back of their minds: Destroy or enslave those who do not bend to the insatiable interests of the financial monastery. This is fascism by any other name.
That's what happens to the art of lying given thousands of years of refinement. This is a foreshadow of where our electronic culture of dreamy unreality and simplistic soundbites is headed left in the hands of the predatory minions in servitude of their powerful media masters. Bloggers are merely a small obstacle to be overcome on that journey.
One only has to look at these victims, the caucus of the religious right, most of which contrary to stereotypical belief started out as gentle, noble, Christians looking to do the right thing, and see the incredulous monster they've become in the eyes of the rest of the nation and the whole world, for making a deal with liars. For in that compact, they have been forced to become liars themselves. As part of that deal, folks who praise honesty and justice as a moral virtue now find themselves defending torture, genocide, and murder, most foul. The reward for that loyalty is that they must erect ever more fragile arrangements of self deception, which must be downright exhausting to maintain.
We have become a people that receive almost nothing BUT lies every night, every day, twenty-four and seven, three-hundred sixty-five days a year. Industrial lying: A a conveyor belt of dishonesty flowing from a duplicity factory powered by bullshit. It's so incessant we've really become almost immune to it. And we tolerate because there's nothing we can do about it; except when the liars are under oath. Then we can do something about it!
Unlike a lot of people here I thought Clinton should have stepped down after he was busted for lying under oath. It might have been better in the long run if he had for the Democratic Party. Hell Gore might have easily carried Florida if he went into the election with two years experience under his belt and a screaming economy at peace with the world. Yes, I understand why Clinton lied, and I don't think lying about a blowjob is in the same ballpark as lying about a rape or a murder; I mean come on, no one thinks that.
Lying under oath however is a felony no matter what the reason. If a doctor, or a lawyer, or a stockbroker, or an insurance agent, or many other professionals, get hung with a felony on their record, it's not just their job, it's their career. They can never, ever work in that field again. If that's good enough for my Allstate guy, it's good enough for the President of the United States, or his staff and cabinet, or the Senate, or Congress, or anyone else in a position of public trust. Yet we have come to accept liars as the cost of doing business. We make deals.
When you or I, or a politician, or anyone else is under oath, they damn well better either tell the truth, or not answer the fucking question. And if they lie and they get caught, I want them subject to the same consequences everyone else is subject to. Doesn't it matter if they're democrats or republicans or communists or theocrats or lunatics, because this is a matter of law and law cannot play party favorites. It doesn't matter if they lied about molesting a young child or they lie about what they had for dinner. If you get caught lying under oath, you lose your job. Period.
I know democratic staffers read this blog (If they don't that candidate needs new staffers), so can I make a suggestion for a 'strategy'? How about trying what Fitz did; how about telling the truth? You can package it diplomatically or charmingly, but it needs to be the truth. I have to tell you dems looking for reelection that when you waffle on Iraq you sound like a bald-faced craven lying shitbag. You cannot both object to the spin that was put on the Intel that lied us into this mess and criticize the rationale, while saying you'd do it all over again knowing everything you just claimed.
The GOP has handed the opposition a big stick to beat them senseless with, and that stick is called truth. So, I hope the Dems figure this out and run it up the flagpole in a race or two and see how it fares; because it's only a matter of time before the few decent Republicans left beat them to it.
Some cynics would say that an honest person cannot be a politician, that the job demands liars. I disagree; to be a politician all one has to be is electable. That is the single criteria, and right now in the vacuum of honesty left by the powers that be, a plain spoken truthteller looks pretty electable to me.
Honesty: We're ready for it. Really, we always have been. Fitzgerald showed us what truth looks like. And if a candidate can't provide that, if there is something embarrassing, awkward, or even really nasty in their past that they honestly can't answer for, they need to either plead the fifth, refrain from answering, or tell the truth: Otherwise don't be looking for my vote. Because, maybe, just maybe, Americans are tired of hearing lies, sweet little lies. In the wake of this Culture of Corruption that has been foisted upon us by hook or by crook, the media and the electorate is ready to embrace truth like we haven't been for years. It is this writer's sense that we the people are craving the truth, starving for truth: and can handle the truth.