Is Truth dead as a virtue?
I hope I shall possess firmness and virtue enough to maintain what I consider the most enviable of all titles, the character of an honest man. — George Washington
If I speak, I'm a speaker. If I legislate, I'm a legislator. So it would make sense that if I lie then I am a liar.
What does this have to do with our current presidential administration? I would argue that the consistent and intentional utterance of untruths has removed all integrity from what should be the bastion of truth and justice, the nominal Leader of the Free World. A leader must tell the truth. Or in the words of a (disrespectful) congressional representative, when "'he' lies," "he" is tearing at the very fabric that holds the country together.
While this may seem a a serious accusation, this term has been debated in media more in the last few months than any time than I can remember, especially when the respectable press considers the gravity to assigning such a label to a public figure. This is reasonable, because our society works under the premise that those who represent large groups of people, in public and private roles of leadership, speak with truth and integrity, and that this condition is a prerequisite of having such responsibility (and privilege). In fact, it is fundamental to the fabric of our republic.
Public figures have a sworn obligation to tell us the truth, and represent us and our interests with integrity. Compromising this infallibly results in the lack of public trust and confidence, and ultimately has repercussions of instability that can be global in nature, especially when treaties and international agreements are based on the premise that one is true to their word, and their word is the truth.
The public trust has been broken.
Lest this appear as an ad hominem attack against any individual's character, perhaps some term definition is in order. According to respected dictionaries of the English language (Webster's, OED, American Heritage, etc.,) there are some significant distinctions around truth-telling, or at least utterance of things that can be construed as lacking thereof. (Details below the fold)
Selected verbs in descending order of "truthiness":
- Misspeak: Speak inaccurately or unintentionally misleadingly
- Imply: Suggesting something indirectly without overtly saying it is true (not a deception by mischievous little devil creatures)
- Obfuscate: To bewilder or add confusion, makes less clear
- Prevaricate: Evading an admission or speaking of truth (dodging, beating around the bush)
- Mislead: Deliberately cause to have a false impression or idea
- Bear false witness, or lie: Intentionally attesting to something as true that one believes to be untrue, to intentionally say something knowingly false
This last item is borne with the highest level of accusation, as it has some of the oldest roots of prohibition (a Commandment of God, if you will). In order to soften or euphemize, it may have many synonyms as a noun, such as untruth, falsehood, fib, fabrication, deception, invention, fiction, (alternative fact?), falsification, or to a lesser extent, white-lie, half-truth, exaggeration. But in the end, it’s all a lie, a commission rather than an omission.
A few of our oldest and most respected media outlets have had the courage to call a lie a lie. (And have now been punished for it in a twisted inversion of justice.) That is supposed to be the social contract that keeps people from lying, especially when their public credibility is at stake. If you lie, you will be branded a liar. And liars are not respected, they are not granted the privilege of enjoying all the benefits of a collective society in which honesty and integrity are fundamental. Actions and consequences. But in order for this bargain to hold up, I daresay that in order to maintain the fabric of our society, there must be consequences when the rules are violated.
This is why it is so egregious to find demonstrably false words coming from the highest levels of the Executive branch of the government. If we are a nation of laws, those laws are codified agreements on actions and consequences. Begrudging agreement in many cases, but by being a citizen of the democracy, we accept that we elect people of intelligence and integrity to represent our interests as a proxy, and that as a diverse nation, there is always some compromise. As the astute Mr. Jagger reminded us, you can't always get what you want. But ultimately we trust, that on average, we at least get what we need in order to have a stable society that coexists despite these sometimes conflicting interests. That is the bargain to which we all agreed.
Is there Truth in Government?
If I recollect my civics lessons correctly, Congress is supposed to make new laws or legislate, to ensure the public good where there is a perceived gap in existing law, all the way to constitutional amendments when necessary, or to rescind those laws that are determined to be unjust or no longer applicable. All of this must be based on truth, on real facts, not 'alternative facts' or lies. Without the ability to uphold truth, their work is is vain.
The Judiciary is thus assembled to be trusted with knowledge of these laws and possessing sound and objective judgment when interpretation of these laws is under dispute. Their role is to interpret, not to enforce or create. They can provide guiding opinions, that the other branches can use in crafting new laws or executing the existing ones. But again, they do so under the hallowed premise that all who testify, under oath, speak truth, so that truth is the foundation of those decisions and interpretations. Anyone determined to have contempt for or inability to tell the truth can be punished and has their credibility stripped as a witness to truth. Again, consequences.
Which brings us to that Executive branch. It has a presiding officer, who is tasked with the provision of guiding the public into abiding by the laws that they agree to follow as members or guests of the citizenry. But to be a leader, not just a presider, one must serve as an example. One must act with integrity and be a role model. One must serve as the prototype for behavior and be representative of model behavior and character to all others, within and outside the group. One must above all else, stand for truth.
This role and responsibility of unflinching truth and integrity extends to those deputies, surrogates and support members of the various branches of government, but culminates at the top. And if the leadership at the top cannot or willfully does not represent that truth or demand it of his or her subordinates, then that person is not fulfilling their duty and is clearly unfit for the held office.
When I worked for 2 decades in corporate America, for multibillion dollar companies, if I did not tell the truth, it could cost people their jobs (least of all mine), as my role could affect the share price and I had the responsibility of millions of dollars based on what I said was true. If I were part of a team running an entire country, then the impact is in the trillions or quadrillions, and actual people's lives, so the stakes could not be higher. That's why the unequivocal contempt for the truth as the highest levels is so critical, because it can have, or already has had devastating consequences when truth falls apart. Maybe this is how the Roman empire fell. More than just the issue that Brutus lied, the fabric unraveled when corruption rendered the integrity of the office as meaningless.
We must, as a populace and citizenry, demand that our top leaders fulfill their duty, and hold them accountable. We must be unafraid to use the ‘L’ word, we must call out a lie as a lie. If we do not, then it is no exaggerated hyperbole to say that the fabric of this current society will inevitably unravel, for it is based on truth, and without that truth, there is no foundation for this democracy.
A troublemaker and a villain, who goes about with a corrupt mouth, who winks maliciously with his eye, signals with his feet and motions with his fingers, who plots evil with deceit in his heart— he always stirs up conflict. — Proverbs 6:12-14