Half Truths and Other Lies

A “half truth” is an intentionally deceptive statement that contains some element of truth; a half truth is not truth. Such a statement is like a doctor saying, “Half of you doesn't have cancer; therefore you don't have cancer. A half truth is half lie, and like water that is half sewage, it isn't fit for consumption.

Politicians are masters of half truths, and Barack Obama is no exception. In my own personal life, I give people the benefit of the doubt; in other words, I try to trust people and assume they are being honest with me. However, once a person lies or fails to keep his or her word, that person must prove worthy of further trust. I can accept that people would want to trust Obama; he has an image that invites trust, and he is making promises that many find appealing, promises of hope and change.

What I don't understand is how people, who desire something different and upbeat, can continue to look to him, now that he's shown his dishonesty, switched positions on issues, and abandoned people he once claimed as important to him. Even if one allows that the change he promises is desirable, how can anyone believe those promises now? Will he meet with Ahmahdinijad or not? He has said both. Will he pull our troops from Iraq immediately or after some ever-increasing length of time or never? Do we believe him when he claims to have cut welfare in Illinois, or do we accept that he voted against the primary bill and opposed it? Is he running as a black candidate encouraging division, or is he truly a unifying candidate that non-blacks can trust, too? Is he a man who understands people, or is he a man who was fooled by several of his closest friends for years?

Half-truths, equivocation, subtle deception, typical political rhetoric, and evasion are not the hallmarks of an honest man. These behaviors are the normal fair for the kind of politics as usual that he keeps saying he wants to change. Is the only change ideology? Is he just “not Bush?” These are the same kinds of promises the Democrats made in 2006. The were going to bring honesty to Washington, but the brought as much if not more sleaze. They were going to bring the troops home, but two years later, despite their majority, they have not. The President has low approval numbers in the low to mid 30%, while Congress has dropped to below 10%!

If you have been an Obama supporter, I ask you, “How can you trust this man?” If you are not, I ask you, “How can you not be challenging those who are?” There is nothing more frightening to me that a nice, attractive fraud. They used to call such people “snake oil salesmen,” who sold totally phony remedies in order to steal from widows and the elderly, anyone gullible enough to buy their empty promises. Now such frauds sell their phony cures and get-rich schemes on 3 a.m. infomercials. Obama sells his worthless merchandise on prime time political ads and stadiums filled with the desperate and naïve.

If you want real change, check out American Solutions where Newt Gingrich is leading a growing number of thinking Americans to find answers that will work, and he's doing it without seeking the highest office in the nation. As for hope, I would not invest my hopes to strongly in any person, and certainly in not in a deceitful politician of half truths, untruths, and dubious promises. I see no reason to trust government more than the bare minimum necessary to deal with external threats and domestic order; I do not rest my hopes in the power of government for surely that power will serve its holders far more than those from whom it is taken.

One final question is the most difficult to answer. Does a Barack Obama believe his own rhetoric? Is he the kind of politician who will say anything to achieve his own selfish agenda, or is he the rarer sort who genuinely believes that he can make the system work? The former is evil; the latter is naïve if not ignorant or delusional. I'm not sure which frightens me more in a President. Fortunately, the balance of powers still protects us somewhat from both evil and inept leaders, but both the evil and inept, thus far, have been working overtime to erode those protections. We need not to give yet another of that kind the power to do further damage. We need to begin turning things around. Unfortunately, neither major candidate is likely to do that.

For this cycle, we need to choose the most honest candidate, and we must elect as many others to the Senate, Congress, and state and local offices who are honest and, if possible, aware of what our nation needs most, that is, to begin to return power and the quest for solutions back to the people. Candidates with half truths simply won't do.