Michael Swickard
What are the three hardest words to say? Some think it is, “I don’t know.” But that is said every day. Then there is the infrequent, “I was mistaken.” Many people do not say it even when appropriate. But neither are apparently the hardest three words to say.
“I deliberately lied,” would appear to be the hardest three words to say. People deliberately lie every day and yet never ever confess it. I think of deliberate lies mostly at election time. There are some other times that qualify, such as the Ides of April and at single bars.
This election season has seen lots of deliberate lies. More insulting than the lies themselves is the fact that in this modern age most of the deliberate lies are easy to uncover and yet they are a constant of the election cycle. What qualifies as a deliberate lie is when the perpetrators know for certain what they are saying is false but tell the lies anyway.
We saw just such an instance last week with the comments made about one candidate that as governor she will give New Mexico water to her swell friends in Texas. In less than 10 seconds any fifth grader can Google that the water in New Mexico is not controlled by the governor. Yet this is the push of advertising, and even a former president of the United States dutifully parroted the lines because it seems to get some traction.
It is easy to know what to do when friends and close associates lie. They are confronted, in a loving manner, and either learn not to lie or are thrown out of our friendship circle. If someone will deliberately lie, they cannot be trusted in the least. Likewise, when someone in business gets the reputation of deliberately lying, most associates break the connection.
It is only in the election process do Americans tolerate or even encourage this behavior. I see it on both sides of the political spectrum. In fact, people who are deadly honest will drift over the line when it comes to political lies and innuendoes. Or so it seems to me in a lifetime of unscientific data collection. It would seem the more ridiculous the lie, the more it is told.
President Obama is the recipient of many lies, as was George W. Bush. Both are very hated and so no lie seems over the top enough. I routinely hold up my hand and say, “Stop, that appears a deliberate lie and I will have none of it.” It does offend some people and they have left my circle. Fine with me.
Lies about Pearce
Two recent lies that I have become vocal about are both about congressional candidate Steve Pearce. The first is his Vietnam status. Several people have hounded Pearce about his claim that he served in Vietnam. These conjectures are deliberate lies that would not be done to a Democrat by these same people. Truth is Pearce did serve two tours of duty in Vietnam.
The second deliberate lie is more insidious. It goes like this: A blog made the claim Pearce was dishonest. So Pearce’s opponent loudly proclaimed that Pearce was said to be dishonest. This slight of tongue is so very offensive because the perpetrator of it can claim that the blog did call Pearce dishonest but the intent of the political ad is to leave the impression that Pearce is dishonest, not that a political blog said so.
I can find nothing inside me that would allow me to violate the First Amendment guarantees of free speech, so people are free to deliberately lie to their heart’s content. That said, there is a consequence for deliberately lying to me, and perhaps if voters took a much stronger stance on lies they would not gain as they seem to be doing.
Often what the liar really wants is not for people to believe the lie; they just want to hear someone have to proclaim they are not a fill-in-the-blank, because it is personally so damaging to have to proclaim innocence. It is unbecoming an enlightened society and I for one confront deliberate lies always. Perhaps you will join me.
Swickard is a weekly columnist for this site. You can reach him at michael@swickard.com.
Swickard bio │ Archives │ Feed