Blog #8 Our Broken Moral Compass
Our American political system is flawed. Not broken but flawed.
I ask about the decline in our moral values. What is happening in America?
We hear it all the time. New outrageous lies by politicians are discovered and the double standard is maintained for some, exaggerated charges made for others, and voters become resigned.
It does not happen only in Washington D.C. It happens in Federal, State, County, and Local Towns.
As a new commissioner with a business background for a small town of fewer than 4,000 voters, it happens here as well. In such a small town I was speechless when a local resident who formed a PAC (Political Action Committee) told me directly that it is okay to lie or exaggerate since he has Freedom of Speech. Politics is about winning and lies are simply part of “the game”.
Being a non-politician, I admit my naivete and shock at “the game”. Lies are easily disguised as exaggerations, distortions, or truth-in-part mixed with untruths, but all with a definite, if hidden, purpose. What is the voter to believe?
We see it all the time on the national level that has established a frequent practice without accountability. Examples are too numerous, but to be sure some of the great ones include Bill Clinton’s reference to not inhaling marijuana, or he “did not have sexual relations with that woman”. He said the latter under oath, but no matter, there were no consequences.
Others include President George Bush’s “read my lips”, Senator Blumenthal’s false claim to be a combat Vietnam Veteran, JFK’s lies about the Bay of Pigs, Obama’s “if you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor”, LBJ’s lies about Vietnam and the Pentagon Papers, Trump told many statements, many were insulting lies or terrible exaggerations, but some important claims were rejected at first, turned out to be true. But the credibility was lost for Trump.
Now we see what is happening with the Biden Administration. The lies have been flowing profusely. They include the Vaccine that did not exist until he took office, the Afghanistan withdrawal was a tremendous success, no Americans were left behind in Afghanistan, “inflation is transitory”, the economy today is better than the failed economy of Trump, the “Border is Secure”, Covid lies, Biden knows nothing of Hunter’s laptop or his involvement with influence peddling, money laundering, gun law violations, or illegal sex-capades. Most recently, and finally with some main media recognition, his “responsible” handling of secret government documents illegally stored in several places.
At State levels, we see the egregious, if not notorious lies and distortions by the N.Y. Representative George Santos or Pennsylvania’s John Fetterman, and then there is Hershel Walker. The list goes on.
It seems there is no end to it. For six years Adam Schiff, possibly the most notorious liar in recent history, lied and reinforced his lies about the Russian Collusion and the Trump Dossier with his claim of having “evidence in plain sight”. Supported by a political machine to take down an elected President, the string of supported lies made by partisan politicians and promoted by the partisan media created a never-ending scandal that in the end was all a hoax and an ugly break in system credibility.
Schiff continues to spread lies with abandon. He personifies the corruption in truth for American politics.
Santos is nothing more than the result of the unbridled abandonment of truth to seek office and do it by leveraging ignorant voters, malpractice by the media, and sustained by political machines. He laughed all-the-way to Washington D.C. and does not care that he made fools of his voters, his state, and his country.
Our moral compass is, in fact, broken.
As a result, we are losing our purposeful direction without common values, common beliefs, or common sense.
Santos’ successful deception is the latest in a continuing decline in political integrity that breeds contempt, disloyalty, and division in America.
What should Americans trust, who should they believe, and how can we fix it?
At the very least, like Biden who has over 40 years of experience to prove the point, we need term limits, we need to understand the destructive impact of social media, and we need laws against political lies/deceptions that bring accountability. Like the military with the “stolen valor” concept, politics needs a version of “stolen honor”.
I would suggest that until proven otherwise, voters must be skeptical of the media and all claims that seem to be nothing more than hype, exaggerations, or intended to generate a high emotional response. Skepticism will require some level of investigation of both sides to determine what is reasonable. We must demand accountability. We must be more discerning in the moral character of those we elect.
As my parents warned often during my upbringing: “Don’t trust politicians until you understand their motives.” They believed that politics is only about power or money or both – at the expense of the working voter.
Any compass is affected by outside forces that will “move the needle” and drive us into directions of danger.
We must fix our compass. Otherwise, we are headed south, in the negative sense.
We need to move the needle back to “True North” to get True Honor.