Journey to the Land of Partial Honesty --Can Truth Be Found in Politics?

“There are no whole truths: All truths are half-truths. It is trying to treat them as whole truths that plays the devil.”

Alfred North Whitehead

The fictional, mythical, strangely mystical, Land of Partial Honesty is where it appears many politicians reside. History shows it to be a strange and vicious place made up of men and women who were once good, honest, kind-hearted people intent on serving the public needs.

It is unfortunate that those living there have been overtaken by an addiction to power and influence. This addiction is every bit as bad as an addiction to alcohol, heroin or crystal meth! It’s a disease that is responsible for once fine people mistreating and ignoring the people that trust them the most – the same people that put them in their position of power and influence – the voters.

Sadly, the addiction to power and influence isn’t acknowledged or talked about, nor is there such a thing as intervention or a 12-Step program to treat the addiction. Nonetheless the people who are addicted are wandering blindly, not knowing they are stuck in the gutters of the Land of Partial Honesty. This is where they are most comfortable, surrounded by others living with the same affliction.

Together, they form a community made up of enablers and co-dependents. Their actions often make sense only to them, and their irrational behavior is validated as sensible and supported by those they surround themselves with to keep them from seeing the real world; which they have long since lost sight of.

When someone tries to interfere with their supply of power and influence, or suggests that there is a reality outside the boundaries of the Land of Partial Honesty, they circle the wagons and defend against the blasphemous troublemakers.

The Land of Partial Honesty is of course, not a real place - at least not in the geographical sense. But let’s pretend for a short while it is. Imagine it were a real location, where those addicted to the power and influence of politics congregate for validation. If it were so, that would certainly answer a lot of questions that many are asking.

In the Land of Partial Honesty, President George W. Bush would walk around thinking he has all the answers and would never admit fault in his decisions Even as his administration and associates continued to be investigated and indicted for an impressive array of offenses against Americans and America, he’d stay the course.

It would explain why Americans are dying to provide democracy in the Middle East - while democracy crumbles at home. It would make perfect sense that the wealthy received tax breaks and made unprecedented profits, while so many others scramble for minimum wages that wouldn’t allow them to have basic health care, let alone dreams of retirement.

It would be overlooked by the mass media that Senators and Lobbyists were able to continue with business as usual, because of a few bandages they applied to the gaping wounds in a system that is bleeding profusely. Sweeping ethics reform would be applauded by the neighboring residents of the Land of Partial Honesty.

On the State level, dead people could still vote if their favorite candidate needed that extra boost. And the citizens of Partial Honesty would continue to ensure each other that everything’s okay, as long as they are true to the alliance they’ve formed and stay together.

At the county and municipal levels of government in The Land of Partial Honesty, other alliances would form to protect that much needed supply of the power and influence many of the officials seem to need to give them purpose. They sternly declare, “That’s the way we’ve always done it, by God,” as they once again reject any new ideas.

Since those in the alliances have all contributed to the circle of favors and misinformation, none can break free. They all owe one another and must stick together whether they are right, wrong or indifferent. Any dissention among them would be quashed by the majority for whatever reason they chose. The public would eventually quit asking why, and just accept the way it is. Apathy is rewarded in the Land of Partial Honesty.

The residents there have effectively guarded their power and influence supplier from any challenges, and as long as they stick together, the Land of Partial Honesty will flourish.

Wouldn’t it be strange if the above scenario could be applied to the real world? Could addiction to power and influence actually contribute to some of the misinformation and half-truths in your local governments? Is it possible that the actions of a County Legislative Body that don’t seem to make an iota of sense, could be explained as being the result of this addiction and the grip that it has on your elected representatives? How much of your local power structure might be afflicted with this addiction?

If the Land of Partial Honesty sounds alarmingly like your community be assured, those people need help -- even if they won’t admit it. And the only way you, as concerned citizens can provide the help they need, is to make sure they are not re-elected. That’s right! If you care about those tragically sick people, you need to be strong enough to get them the help they need. You need to vote them out of office in all levels of government and let the fresh voices be heard!

At first, while they detoxify, they might be angry and lash out at you. Eventually they’ll thank you for showing them the way out of the Land of Partial Honesty and leading them back to the real world.

Is it possible that the concerns of the public may be valid? I’m hopefully optimistic that there are a number of truly honest individuals involved in politics. I’m also certain there are some that have moved to the Land of Partial Honesty.

Please make a true effort to decide which are which when you go to the voting booth, and vote accordingly.

It just doesn’t get any simpler than that.