.......Well, it certainly isn't love - that's for sure. It's a war. The right in this country, and Mitt Romney, are at war with the truth, among other things. Yes, people lie, but it's their logo! They probably think it's a fair tactic given what they believe to be the best course for our country, oops...I mean for them. They want security (from the pesky 99%-and 3rd world types) and they want a gated world. I believe they want "IT" all. I also don't think they know what that is past stuff, power, and safety. If they have to lie to get IT, so be it. Alls fair in love n war. But their tactic reveals them to be empty, grasping, screamers with nothing but a sucking sound to offer the world. What kind of life are they really selling the rest of us? Joy in the little things, giving a helping hand, balanced living, telling the truth? Not really.... Lying has become an acceptable and disturbingly successful weapon in this race judging how the media, and our president in the first debate, reacted to the phenomenon. Our culture seems to tolerate an amazing amount of it. Romney darts around employing confusion, passionate rhetoric, and repetition in order to hammer his way to the sale with brute force and glazed eyes. We've agreed to be conned into buying the swagger. I'm pretty tired of the illusion of the self made man myself. There is a stench around it all and it has become embedded in our culture to a degree that is truly alarming and pernicious. "He Won" they all yell. It reminds me of a definition of commercial success offered by the great cellist Janos Starker. "Louder, softer, slower, faster." What does winning in this culture mean? We need to ask this question across the board if we are to live as decent human beings both individually and together. If we can know what winning for us means, maybe we can know what lying really means. "The Truth shall set you free" and all that. Why do I believe that is so? Because an honest search for truth gives our existential keesters a place to sit that won't slowly cave in, turning all around us to dust as we spiral downward into the black hole of chaos. The molly maids of truth ain't been keepin the place up lately --- we ain't doin well. And I'm not talking about religion! So, who are we? Does it matter?
I would love to see a thoughtful discussion here about how to understand this phenomenon more deeply. I think it's part of rebuilding our personal and collective identity.