Last modified: Thursday, May 15, 2008 10:39 AM PDT Random Acts of Writing: The truth about political lies By Craig Carter Fish gotta swim, birds gotta fly, politicians gotta lie. We know beyond a shadow of a doubt our leaders and those who run for office lie to us, and yet we always try to act shocked when we catch one of them in a lie. Especially if they don’t belong to our party. So why do politicians lie? The answer is as simple as it may seem shocking to some. Politicians lie because the electorate demands it. You’ll notice I didn’t say the electorate prefers they lie, or that we like it when they lie. We demand our leaders and the people who seek public office lie to us. Oh, sure, we like to say we want our leaders and politicians to tell the truth, but very little good ever came from a politician telling the truth. For example, Barack Obama told the truth when he said people in western Pennsylvania are pretty much delusional for expecting the government to return the manufacturing and steel jobs that left the area some 20 years ago, and he instantly went from being a populist to an elitist. Likewise, Hillary Clinton was telling an undisputable truth when she said Obama gets away with things a white candidate would never get away with. Has she been rewarded for telling the truth, or has she been characterized as shrill and petty? Add to this the media’s obsession with making political campaigns about as much nothing as possible and the fact the electorate is willing to buy anything the candidates of their party say, so long as it’s completely in line with the party talking points, and you have a recipe wherein people not only want to hear lies, they demand them. In short, you show me a politician who tells the truth, and I’ll show you someone who has no plans past Election Day. Another thing that really bothers me about the way we deal with political candidates is the self-righteous contention many voters make that none of the candidates are any good. I hear this every major election. “I just don’t know who to vote for because they’re all bad.” No, what you mean to say is none of them are perfect. It’s as if folks are waiting for some political white knight to ride up on his trusty steed with a plan to make everything better. I think the American electorate would be so much better off if we’d just come to the healthy conclusion no political candidate is going to be perfect. They’re human. They have flaws. Like everyone, they’ve associated with people they probably shouldn’t have, they did things in their youth they weren’t too proud of, and, if you dig deep enough, you’ll find some excuse to oppose their candidacy. (How many remember the “serious” concern in 1960 that JFK would hand the government over to the Vatican?) I have a feeling if Jesus himself were to run for president, the Republicans would have a serious problem with the people he chose to hang around with (tax collectors, lowlifes and a former prostitute, who claimed she reformed, but how often do they really reform?). The Democrats would have a serious problem with some of his social views (that plucking your right eye out if it wanders to the nudie sites on the Internet thing would be a major talking point for us hippie-freak free-love liberals). And the media would be obsessed with his attire. (How can we take a guy who doesn’t shave and wears a robe and sandals seriously?) But the final straw for a Jesus candidacy would be that his very nature would preclude him from lying. If that’s not a recipe for dismal political defeat, I just don’t know what is. H.L. Mencken wrote: “The men the American people admire the most are the most daring liars; the men they detest most violently are those who try to tell them the truth.” I rest my case. Craig Carter, an Ontario resident, writes a bi-weekly column for the Argus Observer. Comments or questions for Mr. Carter can be directed to: Craig Carter, Argus Observer Newsroom; 1160 S.W. Fourth St., Ontario OR, 97914