Thursday, September 17, 2009

Bottom line of current Political Debate: Is it OK to Lie and Cheat?

The Bottom Line of our current Political Debate: Is it OK to Lie and Cheat?

You can see the "collateral damage" in this debate: The common person. Our Country's financial situation should attest to that.

The problem with this is that it's actually kind of hard to grow up without some deceit. Our entire advertising infrastructure is based on, at best, half truths and exaggeration. At worst? Also, I've heard that it's hard to get a high-paying job without padding your resume.

If it's something that "we all do" (which is an answer I often get), then what? (Another thing I often hear is, "Be creative, and don't get caught").

In our Health Care debate, it seems to be about throwing out lies to scare people, yet those lies talk about current practices.

For example, "death panels to deny coverage to old people because they cost too much". That's a current scare tactic, yet we currently have stories about existing companies canceling coverage to extremely sick policy holders, causing them to die. (The current story on The Huffington Post discusses revoking coverage for a teenager who was HIV Positive, for example. Isn't that an example of a "death panel"?)

Current difference between the political parties? Democrats tend to limit lying and cheating to their personal life. Republicans extend the lying and cheating to political affairs, including lying and cheating us into wars. Also, Republicans often expect others to "do as I say, not as I do", which is hypocrisy.

Where is our country heading?