Just Asking......

I thought the other day, "Would you go to a doctor or lawyer who lied to you or at least was often deceptive?"  And, further, "Would you do business with a person who ignored your questions about his/her product or service or, if there was an answer, obfuscated or didn't address the question?"  Of course, I think the overwhelming majority of people would answer, "Certainly not!!!!!!"

So, then, why do we accept or even expect such behavior out of our elected officials?  And, we do.  Can anyone deny that we condone ("If we accept it, we condone it.") and even reward dishonesty in politicians? 

I'm not picking on one party over the other and I'm not singling out the federal government over state and local government.  The Democrats were this way with passing ObamaCare (and are now allowing their staunchest supporters to weasel out of ObamaCare's not-so-hot coverage).  The Republicans were this way with passing the Right-to-Work legislation (and are now furious that some folks are circumventing the law, legally so, when those same politicians clearly circumvented the legislative process).

They lie about budgets and taxes.  They are sneaky about what they are doing and why.  Deception follows obfuscation and disingenuous.  What's the thing one of my students said to me a couple semesters back?  I had never heard it, but she asked, "When can you tell if a politician is lying?"  I searched for an answer and finally said, "When?"  She replied, "When he moves his lips."  And, what I remember most about this is that she said it without a smile.

How are citizens, the ultimate authority in a democratic republic, to make good decisions if their elected offiicals are so devious, deceitful, and dishonest?  But maybe that's the point.  The politicians are so arrogant, so elitist that they believe they are smarter than we are, that they know what's best for us, better than we do.  If that's what any of these Bozos believe, why don't they have the courage to tell us before election day?  That's just it--many of them have no sense of honesty, shame, or integrity and have no courage.  Just come out and tell us--"I'm smarter than you.  I know what's best for you, better than you do.  Just go back and watch American Idol and Dancing with the Stars and March Madness and we'll do what's best."

Of course, not all politicians lie.  There are some who are honest, I'd guess.  But why don't they speak up.  I guess they remain quiet because they are like most people, "sheeple."  When VA Congressman Tom Davis spoke out against his own party's behavior, his leadership came down on him.  In fact, he opted to leave his elected office rather than deal with them.  So, we lose another good mind, an honest man, because he spoke the truth.

But I blame not only the politicians, but voters.  "The fault, dear Brutus, lies not in our stars but in ourselves."  Yes, we reward such behavior--we elect and re-elect the same people from the same parties over and over, regardless.  I chuckled, but in a serious way, at a local radio show as Detroit awaited the verdict in the Kwame Kilpatrick case.  Callers to the show were debating if Kilpatrick would win if he ran for mayor again!!!!!!  That such a question is even raised boggles my mind.  I once had a discussion wiht a woman who asked me why I didn't like President Obama.  I only had a chance to say, "Because he's a hypocrite...."  She didn't let me get in another word, pouncing, "Oh, is that all?"  I was taken aback.  Being a "hypocrite," to her (and I'd suspect many, if not most folks) is not a bad quality?  I was shaken by that thought and walked away. 

I wrote a few weeks ago about Senator Carl Levin's campaign against former astronaut Jack Lousma.  Although Lousma was a Michigan native, he had spend a number of years out of the state, returning to run for the US Senate.  The Levin campaign negatively painted Lousma as "a carpetbagger," a decidely pejorative characterization.  The he was out of the state serving in the military, being an astronaut apparently didn't matter.  OK, this wasn't dishonest, in the strictest of senses, but it was deceitful.  Gee, I wonder where Levin, most mistakenly called by some as the most recent "Conscience of the Senate," stood on Hillary Clinton running for the Senate in NY??????  Or, was it OK for Bobby Kennedy to do the same in '66?  In a similar vein, in '10 Congressman John Dingell had a tough battle for the US House.  His opponent Rob Steele was lampooned as one of those rich guys who has no clue how the rest of us live.  His very nice (and expensive house--or one like it) was included in TV ads.  How did Steele get to be wealthy?  Did he steal the money?  Did he have a Ponzi scheme going?  Did he rob the public coffers?  No, he is a cardiac surgeon, you know, with transplants and all!  He performed hundreds and hundreds of successful surgeries.  Gee, doesn't that equate with saving lives and improving the quality of lives?  One would think that would be something honorable, not to mention he was successful.  In both cases, voters opted for the wrong choices, electing career politicians.  Nobody, not the candidates and not their ads, forced voters' choices.  But, they made the wrong picks.  So, who to blame?