Saturday, July 23, 2016

Honesty: What Does It Mean?

I have so much I want to say about American politics and have struggled to figure out how to get it all out there. I have decided that I need to do it piecemeal, taking one small focus at a time because otherwise my head will explode. That, and I don't want a blogpost that takes 3 days to read.
What is obvious is that I am not for Trump and I do support Hillary Clinton as a good candidate, one who is capable and who I believe will be a decent president, rather than the lesser of two evils that many are popping off about. Of course, there are many issues associated with her that are unsavory for sure. I'm not thrilled that her record is tainted, that she is not overly likable, that she twists and turns when confronted with her own ability to be perfectly honest, but for the most part, I don't really see her as being all that different than other politicians. What really bugs me however about this truth conversation is that in Obama, from my view, we've had a president with a great deal of integrity. We've had a president who loves his family, practices a quiet Christian faith, is articulate, funny, and compassionate. He has not been caught up in a web of lies and untruths but instead has demonstrated all of the moral characteristics that most opponents of Hillary find lacking. And yet...many who decry Hillary's lack of honesty still hate Obama.
Additionally, Hillary's opponent is hardly a bastion of moral example. He is a liar of epic proportion and a narcissist to boot. He speaks in pithy soundbites that serve to fire up an audience but are riddled with untruths. His whole campaign, Make America Great Again, indicates that he actually thinks America is awful right now and yet, is that really the truth? I am not going to examine how many untruths were stated in Trump's acceptance speech as these facts are all over the internet. (click on internet for site reference.) My simple point is that in him, you are not getting candidate with integrity and honesty at his core.
Also, as regards George W. Bush...he invaded Iraq on the false premise that there were WMDs present, an assumption that was never revealed to have merit. Some thinK he should be the one locked up, along with Cheney and Rumsfeld for war crimes they've committed.
The point is this...if you don't like Hillary, that's your business. But stop saying you refuse to vote for her because she is so dishonest. Dishonesty in politics is no surprise, unfortunately. I don't like it but as mentioned, even with a president like Obama, who has to be rated one of the most truthful presidents in history, many still don't like him so in my mind, it just proves that honesty isn't that high of a virtue. The reason we like or dislike a candidate come to down to other things entirely.
So please, before you decide that you won't vote for Hillary because she's so dishonest, take a good hard look at what you will vote for and I'm quite sure honesty will not be present in any of the choices.