Because they will say ALMOST ANYTHING to win elections, to gain or retain elective office, to defeat their opponents. And because many of them act as though lies and misrepresentations are justified in the service of winning elections and defeating the other party’s candidates, who are obviously the minions of Satan who seek to destroy all that is good and right in the world!
The higher the office, the greater the stakes, and, consequently, the greater the temptation to say WHATEVER is likely to sway voters and donors. Whether the politician is named Bush or Obama, Biden or Trump, we should recognize that when politicians open their mouths to speak, their words serve a partisan political purpose, which may or may not have anything to do with telling the truth.
Case in point: Nancy Pelosi sent out a fundraising email this morning. Somehow I got on her list. (I imagine that’s because I gave some money to Amy Klobuchar’s presidential campaign, and I assume Democratic candidates share or sell their fundraising lists to support other Democrats.)
The Speaker writes to me, in that personalized style so characteristic of standard-issue political fundraising emails:
“(my name), Donald Trump just launched an enormous effort to steal the People's House.”
And how did the former president perpetrate this dastardly deed?
“(my name), news just broke that Trump held a major House GOP fundraiser. He gave a massive speech and raked in $250,000 in one day -- all for House Republicans.”
Is Pelosi’s fundraising effort a legitimate political act but Trump’s fundraising constitutes the crime of attempted theft? Is there any difference between Republicans like Trump raising money for Republican candidates and Democrats like Pelosi raising money for Democratic candidates?
Perhaps there’s nothing that can be done about the disingenuous language so commonly employed by professional politicians. But then again, maybe by calling it out – consistently – when their language is false, when they attempt to deceive, when they misrepresent their record or the legislation they support or oppose, perhaps they might then think twice about the efficacy of lying.
Will any of us live to see the day when the professional fact-checkers are no longer biased in favor of one party or the other, when office-holders are willing to call out members of their own party for uttering falsehoods, when we can trust that proposed legislation will cost what its supporters claim it will cost?
“You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one…”