...is lovely... but i think it lacks a little bit. maybe something a bit more easily digestible and "down home" to play better in the sticks... because people here are, indeed, in denial to an extent also...
...so my suggestion... from personal experience.
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...when i was younger and i did something to get into trouble (often), it was often the case that i would fudge the truth, hide the truth for as long as possible, or lie outright to my parents in an attempt to get them to get off my back or put them at ease. this continued into my teenage years: scraping cars, breaking things, losing money, etc.
...but when i got older (see corinthians 13:11) i put away all that nonsense. i remember the first time i didn't dissemble or split hairs with the truth in relating my latest screwup to my parents. it felt terrible in my stomach, but remarkably easy in my head. my lips didn't tremble. my tongue didn't quake. and their reaction wasn't as bad as i thought it would be.
...oh, yes, i still got in trouble. couldn't drive for two weeks. but that wasn't nearly as bad as it would have been had i tried to lie about it. they even helped me to fix the situation and didn't give me too much shit about it afterwards.
...the point is that, before i grew up, i believed that if i deceived enough people as to the nature of a situation, i could change the absolute nature of the situation... or at least buy myself enough time to try to fix the situation to correspond at least a bit with my lie. there was also the shame factor. i hate screwing up probably quite a bit more than most people you know. and there was the thought that, if i admitted my mistake, i would be subject to, along with harsh punishment, ridicule and unending shame. (i WAS a teenager, let's remember... a week and a half is "unending" during those years).
...but growing up gave me the proper perspective that such deception and dissembling gets one nowhere other than deeper in a hole.
...the truth will set you free. and i knew this to be certain once i started dealing evenly with my parents regarding any mistake i made. president bush needs to do the same with the american people.
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...and if kerry were to (calmly) tell bush or reporters something like that, i'd cream my pants. especially if he threw in the corinthians reference to snag the biblethumpers. the calmness is essential, though... this is (to be perceived as) less campaign rhetoric than it is honest attempt from an almost fatherly kerry to get sonny-boy to level with us as to exactly how he drove the car into the brick wall despite all the warning signs...
-koan
http://koanism.textamerica.com
