Why Do Political Lies Work?

Anyone who wants to reform American politics has to seriously consider the pros and cons of lying. Telling people what they want to hear has rarely lost an election. Yet nobody wants to be on the Titanic, reassured that what they felt was just a tiny bump.

To begin with, there's an assumption that no candidate can win by telling the whole truth. The Dennis Kucinich school of bald-faced candor is usually fatal. The phrase "lying politician" rolls easily off the tongue, and yet a balancing act is required. We expect politicians to lie in some areas but not others. Pollsters have not found a simple formula for success, although being positive comes as close as any. Voters don't elect whistle-blowers and Cassandras.

In the present climate there are certain painful truths that cannot be safely uttered in public.

For example:

- America's going to lose this war in the end. Iraq and Iran will form a Shiite coalition controlling almost as much oil as Saudi Arabia.
- The Army contains a lot of disadvantaged kids who enlisted because it was an easy option that paid well.
- The death penalty is barbaric and doesn't work.
- Millions of prison inmates don't deserve to be there; they're the victims of draconian drug laws.
- Drugs aren't going away, no matter how many crusades are mounted against them.
- American democracy panders to the masses once every few years but is run on a day-to-day basis by privileged elites.
- If you're poor or ethnic, your interests take a back seat in Washington.
- The military-industrial complex fuels American exports, so while preaching peace, our pocketbooks depend on selling war.
- The Christian right would be totally ignored if they hadn't found a way to vote en bloc and employ character assassination against anyone who opposes them.
- It's immoral to force a politician to prove he loves God in public.
- The deterioration of public discourse since Watergate has driven the best and the brightest out of politics.
- No problem is so big that Washington can't find a way to postpone facing it.

This is a discouraging list, but I'm sure any thoughtful person who keeps up with politics could add to it with many more examples. Succeeding in political office means either avoiding the truth, masking it over, replacing it with distractions that have little or nothing to do with everyday life (e.g., school prayer, abortion, and the flag), or if need be, creating straw men to knock down.

It's no secret that the right-wing revolution begun by Nixon and spectacularly advanced by Reagan was fueled by social resentment. Why else did the entire South go Republican after the civil rights era? Why else did 'liberal' become a dirty word and war protesters were blamed for losing in Vietnam? Finding a group to hate and vent resentment toward is far easier than telling hard truths to your supporters.

Will this time-honored avoidance of truth-telling, which breaks down only in dire crisis, ever change? The Democrats are running on the hope that it will. But a double bind seems to be tightening on them, especially on Sen. Obama. When he tells the truth too plainly, he is accused of being unrealistic, naive, too idealistic for his own good. When he resorts to placating gun owners, church goers, and the working class after offending them, he is accused of returning to politics as usual.

This double bind has always existed. Pres. Kennedy, for fear of looking soft on Communism, ran on a fictional missile gap with the Soviet Union, a naked appeal to voter fear and hatred of the enemy. The trick is to infuse false rhetoric and sham promises with enough integrity that voters can read between the lines. In America you must convince people that you grasp reality without giving them too big a dose of it.

Click:
www.intentblog.com
www.deepakchopra.com

Comments

[Doofus]

The art of politics (& religion!) is all about fooling people, with lies. If you can't fool all
of the people all of the time, you CAN fool a majority of the people some of the time.

[ofbbg]

I'm going to assess your suggestions about "known truths" one at a time:
1. What if America wins? As long as the islamofascist nutcases are not killing citizens here, their 9th century mentality, while frightening, is irrevelant.
2. The Armed Forces contain a lot of kids whose culture and educational system have failed them. They see service as an opportunity to escape. Yes, it's sometimes dangerous - but so are the streets.
3. It does work. Dead people rarely commit additional crimes.
4. True - largely due to the moral relativism that saturates our culture at all levels.
5. EVERY government panders to the masses - and elites rule everywhere! Don't be naive.
6. Ethnic - if you can vote in a bloc (see your later comment), they'll listen. Poor - it's not the governments job to take care of your interests - it's YOURS.
7. Boilerplate propaganda. No truth whatsoever.
8. Unlike the Afro-American bloc - 90% Dem? And it's Liberals who are trying to eliminate religion - except for Islam - with nothing to put in its place.
9. Agree
10. You need to read up on 19th century american political discourse - makes todays seem tame.
11. Agree - but would add "or make it worse trying to solve it."

[paleoimage]

To confess, I'm not much of a fan of Deepak Chopra's more philosophical ramblings about the nature of the human spirituality, etc. However, his political instincts were very accurate in this assessment... we need more fundamental "honesty" not fundamentalism.
As far as the current crop of presidential candidates - only Senator Obama gives us a shot at the required candor and "truth-telling" . Perhaps, as a nation, we'll get past racism and overt partisanship and be smart enough to give him that chance. Then, of course, he must deliver the change in government, as promised.

[burnt]

"Succeeding in political office means either avoiding the truth, masking it over, replacing it with distractions that have little or nothing to do with everyday life..."

That is part of what Obama is offering as change. Most of that offering is more or less an acceptance of one fact. It IS becoming more difficult to lie and expect the same results that politicians have grown accustomed to receiving.

The Clinton campaign is an example. Her campaign strategists had fully expected to employ deceit in its many forms, with results that have been proven many times in the past. However, this new social construct that we are bringing to age, proves those results to be much more difficult to achieve. It is now far easier to question, fact-find and judge the content of a political message, and do so with negative reinforcement applied to those who attempt deception. The virtual body politic has expanded exponentially... and it communicates effectively.

Let's all count the number of bullets that whizzed by Clinton's head on the tarmac.

If there is one lesson that will be taken away from this campaign it is this: Politicians will no longer be able to lie with impunity. Clinton lost most of her support by attempting to do so. Blog on!

[Parducci]

There two problems with your list of truths. First, they're all opinions and predictions, not facts. They may be correct opinions and the predictions may come to pass, but they're are still not "truths." Second, they are repeated publicly--by politicians-- all the time. At least you didn't mix the usual Eastern mysticism into this week's page of gobbley-gook.

[nerakami]

You seem to have an abhorrence to the writings of Mr. Chopra and yet, you continually read his articles to express your contradictions. I find that exceptionally strange as usually, one who is not in sync with another's opinions or "truths" would simply read other writings more in line with his own beliefs. Secondly, unless you have actively engaged, meaning living it moment to moment, of the principles of Eastern mysticism (as you call it), then you are in no position to accurately make comments about the beliefs or practice. It is similar to a blind man trying to describe a sunset.

[babylonandon]

Why would you ever assume that folks would enjoy reading political commentary that they agree with? Where the Hell is the fun in that?

That is an ignorant point of view!

One thing folks like you never grasp about Americans is that we love to fight with everyone, especially each other. Our Sports, our conversations, our politics, and Hell even our shopping are all forms of constant warfare and constant revolution. This country is made up of the most violent SOB's on earth. The worst thing anyone can do is to focus us on fighting them. Ask the Japanese and the Germans.

We weren't really focused in Viet Nam or Korea. There was no real point of focus after 911 - just the ones Bush used to get us into Afghanistan and his shadow war in Iraq (which bled off our anger onto Saddamn that should have been directed at his Saudi buddies and Pakistan after they gave asylum to bin Laden).

Usually our internal combat is verbal, but it's one of the reasons we maintain our own home arsenals. Few people realize that many of our inner cities are every bit as dangerous as most of Iraq. We love to fight whether it's at work, home, on the streets, or even against nature.

There are few things in this universe I love more than reading stuff that annoys the crap out of me. Especially if I can fling my opinion back at the author in the comments block.

[nerakami]

That is an extremely sad but true depiction of the state of our political affairs. The more ominous realization is that the leaders of this nation act in such deplorable, underhanded, disgusted manner and it is deemed ok, but yet we expect our children to respect and honor other kids in our schools. Baloney.... children are not immune to how our leaders behave and whether subliminally or not, will assimilate their tactics and behavior on some level.

I think it is an absolute disgrace that our entire generation of kids have these politicians as the example of leadership. Believe me, everything plays a part in the big picture and this certainly is a day of lamentation at the loss of basic qualities like, honesty, integrity and tolerance.

This truly is a cause for great concern....

[SeriousBlack]

Very honest, intelligent and clear-eyed assessment, Deepak.

"Will this time-honored avoidance of truth-telling, which breaks down only in dire crisis, ever change?"

Hopefully (and yet at the same time, unfortunately) we are in a dire enough state now that it will in fact change. President Barack Obama would be a good start!