The Banality of Lying _________________________
A BUZZFLASH EDITORIAL
July 18, 2003
buzzflash.com
<<...But when big lies are such a daily occurrence, it is hard to see how any long-term damage will be done to the Bush administration. The key members of the Bush Cartel lie so frequently, it now seems banal. Lying has become an acceptable standard in the Bush administration; in fact, it is part of an admired skill set.
The Republicans have successfully used the vehicles afforded them by the structure of our democracy to reverse the will of the people. Consider Kenneth Starr and the impeachment hearings; the 2000 Supreme Court decision; Karl Rove and Tom DeLay’s unprecedented congressional redistricting robberies in Texas and elsewhere; and the Gray Davis recall effort in California.
Meanwhile, the Democrats have been timid (and we are being kind) about using the legislative process or independent investigations to expose Republican lies and corruption. When Tom Daschle had control of the Senate, he did little to encourage his committee chairmen to vigorously investigate the Enron relationships with the White House, the Bush Administration’s failure to try and prevent September 11th, Ashcroft’s dismantling of the Constitution, and so on.
Now the Democrats in Congress don’t even have the power to probe the Bush administration’s pathological lies. The Democrats do, however, have the platform to keep the Bush administration on the defensive by jumping on every lie like a junkyard dog.
This administration is kept afloat on a sea of lies. Expose the lies, and its credibility and legitimacy will sink to the bottom of the water.
Allow them to get away with deceit, and the sweet water of democracy will turn into a quagmire of deficits, deaths and deception.
It already has...>> |