Truth, Lies, and Politics

Photo by Ina Fassbender, Reuters

This photo was taken in Germany, yet it looks so American. If I could give it a title, I would call it "Lying in the name of democracy" --

How is it so easy to lie when you are a politician. In the story below, Borough Mayor of Tunkhannock had the nerve to write a letter to the editor of his local paper in which he says that Obama has close Muslim ties.

For one, it shouldn't matter if he did, but the truth is that Obama is nowhere close to being a Muslim.

Is this new or has the "lie thing" been around as long as there have been politicians? Didn't John Adams say a bunch of bad things about Thomas Jefferson?

There may be some slipping, as when Hillary says she was in the line of fire in Bosnia - or Richardson saying he played pro-ball. But considering that Muslims (unfortunately) are easily arrested on airplanes and other places - I am sure that Mayor Norm Ball considered his description of Barack Obama a defamation of character -that Ball is proud of.

The following is from an article on racism and the Obama campaign. I thought it deserved its own dreamacttexas post.

It's not clear if the Bush Administration started this political trend of public officials lying while they are looking their constituents in the eye. Worse still is that we believe them.

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from the Washington Post, May 13, 2008

Racist Incidents Give Some Obama Campaigners Pause

In a letter to the editor published in a local paper, Tunkhannock Borough Mayor Norm Ball explained his support of Hillary Clinton this way: "Barack Hussein Obama and all of his talk will do nothing for our country. There is so much that people don't know about his upbringing in the Muslim world. His stepfather was a radical Muslim and the ranting of his minister against the white America, you can't convince me that some of that didn't rub off on him.

"No, I want a president that will salute our flag, and put their hand on the Bible when they take the oath of office."

Obama's campaign workers have grown wearily accustomed to the lies about the candidate's supposed radical Muslim ties and lack of patriotism. But they are sometimes astonished when public officials such as Ball or others representing the campaign of their opponent traffic in these falsehoods.

for complete WP article click here