You Don't WANT the Truth!

I'm a little concerned that Obama is running his campaign too much against the odious Palin (whose light will soon burn out on its own) and also too much on the notion that John McCain is a liar. Yes, John McCain is a liar. He accused Obama of sexism for his "lipstick on a pig," comment when we all know that usage of "lipstick on a pig," easily outdates Sarah Palin's use of the word lipstick to mean "I'm a nobody in make-up."

Obama, an intellectual who holds the notion of truth in high regard has recently been spending his time refuting the lies of McCain and Palin. "You can't just make stuff up," said Obama.

No, you can't. Not at the Harvard Law Review. Not in a nonfiction writing class (and if you try to make stuff up in a fiction class you'll probably face a professor demanding even MORE truth) and not in testimony before a court. No, in those cases, you can't just make stuff up.

In life, you can. In life, you do. "Hello, future employer! Of COURSE I know HTML! I know the other letters too!"

We lie. We exagerate. We don't really judge others for doing so, unless they really burn us. We don't condemn lying. We condemn some lies.

Barack Obama believes in the truth, I think. I'm sure it's a nuanced, well thought out truth. But he believes in one. Few others do. I'd venture that most people don't believe in the truth but that they think they do. I'd also venture that every time Obama calls McCain a liar, a lot of people think, "Yeah, he's lying, or at least stretching, but Obama is probably lying to and what are you going to do in an election." Or, more succintly, "Sure, but politicians lie."

We are not going to win the presidency by running against the opposition's running mate. We're also not going to beat their nominee by calling their nominee a liar, even though he is one. Seems like we've been on the defensive lately and that isn't going to work. "They are lying," is not the phrase that will bring us home. Let's get back to "Change We Can Believe In." Because... the way I see it, there's no way you can look at the decrepit dirty old man and the woman he dressed up as his naughty librarian and conclude that they can bring us anywhere.*









*except of course maybe, "Off. At the senior center outside Phoenix, AZ."