What Happened?

Since when did Americans come to respect and reward slander and lies? When did our society decide that it's okay to knock others down in order to gain what we want? How far can we go before our behavior and words become unacceptable?


It is true that Americans have never advocated dishonesty. It's true that we've never encouraged the ruining of reputations. But what we tolerate can reveal a lot about our character.


During this year's political campaign, I came to realize how fallen our society is. When we hear McCain saying that Obama has his "respect and admiration" one minute and then claiming that Obama's "one accomplishment" was supporting "comprehensive sex education" for kindergarteners, we barely blink an eye. When Obama, the man who said "I am going to respond with the truth," states as a fact that McCain said he would support another "hundred year war", we don't question it.

The statement about Obama's support of kindergartener sex education was a distortion, as was the one coined about McCain's war. The bill that Obama supported called for optional "age and developmentally appropriate" sex-ed for grades K-12, which Obama voted for, saying that the goal was to teach parents how to teach their kids how to avoid predators. The McCain quote was distorted from an actual quote of his which stated that he wouldn't mind an hundred year presence in Iraq so long as American soldiers were kept safe.

One of these men is soon going to become the most powerful man in the world, and we can't take them at their word. They say they have our best interests at heart, so why can't we believe them? Why do we have to constantly weed through everything they say in order to find the truth?

"But that's just how it is in politics. That's just what they do." it may be said. But why does it have to be that way?

I can't claim to be an expert in politics. But, then, not many American's can either. We don't always see through all the flowery words. We don't always catch the half-truths. We don't always feel like investigating the other side of the issue.

I believe we Americans are under-estimated by our own future leaders. Are we unable to make informed choices of our own, that our politicians have to trick us into giving our loyalty with subtle distortions and exaggeration? They may say, "But it works. People respond to it." Yes, we do; but only because it's all you give us. How do you know we won't respond better to straightforward, bold truth? How do you know we won't respect you more for honesty and integrity presented unashamedly? Or is the trust of America not worth that much?

It hurts me to see and hear what our presidential candidates are doing and saying. There they stand before all the world, and they feel they have to slander and attack each other in order gain our affections. Why is that? It could be nothing more than these two particular candidate's styles. It could be just the way politics have evolved. Or it could be what the people of America find acceptible.

What we tolerate can reveal a lot about our character.