Sister Sage's Musings

Lies have been with us since Adam and Eve. They are the source of our dramas, comedies and wars. None of us is without blame for telling whoppers that have hurt others and changed the course of our lives. Until recently, however, lies have been considered taboo – we lie, then we repent. No longer. Especially in politics.

Lying has become a new art, almost a badge of pride. Of course, politicians have always lied. Journalists who report and comment on politics have always lied. But politicians and journalists once had a code. The lies were selective and, as often as not, protected the good will of the nation – as well as their families and pocket books.

Something happened in the last decade that has changed the face of political lying. The right has often pointed to Clinton’s shameless (but understandably protective of his familial situation) lie when confronted with the Oval Office blow job as the BIG LIE of all time. To me, that was peanuts compared to what has come since.

When George Bush followed an impeached Clinton into the White House, he – and his liar in chief Rove – brought a fresh take on dishonesty. His lies were often amoral and brutal, leading a Christian nation of followers down a path from which it may never recover.

Bush’s lies were not protective lies. The purpose of his lies was not to shield family or duck from scandal. Bush lied to send a nation to war without cause. He lied to win crooked elections. He lied to line the pockets of his wealthy friends. His lies were borne of vanity and hate. Bush’s version of the truth brought down the greatest superpower on earth to a broke nation of whiners, unemployed militiamen and overfed sheep.

But Bush was just the beginning. He merely opened the floodgates. The public’s acceptance of his lies facilitated a gold rush of lies from every right wing nut job, from politicians to every conservative journo and blogger. Lies have suddenly become PC. Not PC in a cuddly, liberal kind of way but in a lowly, evil kind of way. Lying is now not only acceptable but de rigueur for any upcoming right-wing pol.

In the new millennium, Sarah Palin has become the poster child for lying. She has it all. Victimization. Check. Strong Christian beliefs. Check. Love of power and money. Check. She is Bush on steroids. There is very little that has come out of her mouth or fingertips that is not a lie. The lies are all as plain as the print in her Gideons. She doesn’t even bother trying to hide them. Thing is, like so many in the new bagger wave of right wingers, I wonder if she knows she is lying. It’s too ingrained in her psyche. The galling thing is, like Bush, she doesn’t care. She lies with impunity and seems to be either proud of it or just ignorant.

As feared, lying is catching. Lies become reality. These days, few even bother to question the lies. The few who do are now castigated and marginalized. Nowhere is this more evident than with the liar of all time, Christine O’Donnell. She is so brazen about her lies, she set up her defense of lying in advance, stating that lying is a sin and she would never, ever lie if her life depended on it.

Problem is, O’Donnell lies like a sailor. Virtually nothing out of her mouth is the truth. It’s as if she has no concept of what the truth is. O’Donnell’s lack of self awareness of her lies is positively biblical. No political person in the history of the United States has lied so often with such impunity.

A handful of American journalists are catching on. But are the people? Do they care? Or, are they so used to lies now from public figures that lying is not only OK but something to stand back and admire? These are not Mark Twain tall tales here, but honest to goodness deceptions and manipulations that have consequences not just for the accepting individual but for the country, hell the world.

The midterm elections may well be a watershed in the history of modern America, let alone for the art of lying. The number of tea party candidates who have unseated GOP incumbents is staggering. The number of lies told by these baggers is even more jaw dropping. It’s like truth has become a bad idea, a bad word, a bad policy. Lies are the new PC. You can do it all you want, as long as you’re conservative. Christine O’Donnell is leading that charge. This is what George Bush hath wrought. And you thought the Iraq war was bad.

- Cross-posted at Let Freedom Rain