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Letter from America

Who killed truth?

The first Presidential Debates have come and gone. In the past these prime-time TV events have been turning points for or against candidates.

Ronald Reagan memorably doused Jimmy Carter's enthusiastic attacks with the four words: 'There you go again'. Reagan said he thought those four words won him the election. Bill Clinton was a master on this stage. Poor old President Ford confidently stated that the Soviets were not in control of any portions of Eastern Europe, effectively underlining his reputation as a bungler.

This time there were no knock-out punches. President Bush repeated his mantra that 'his opponent' was saying that Iraq was 'wrong war, wrong time, wrong place' and that this was not supportive of the troops on the ground. He kept on trying to caricature John Kerry as a 'flip-flopper', not able to keep to a consistent position on anything. Senator Kerry, on the other hand, attempted to paint Bush as indeed 'strong' but lacking sensible judgement. The Iraq war had been carried out poorly, with disdain for the international world order, and it would take a new President to sort out the mess.

Not straight

The most memorable point in the proceedings was the unwillingness of either candidate to speak straight truth. None lied (of course), but none came out and said straight that, for instance, social security would disappear unless this amount of money was raised from increased taxes. If they had they would have got slammed in the newspapers and by the commentators. But with so many important issues riding on this campaign, both American and global, it seems a shame that the system has created entities which are unable to speak straight truth. Who killed truth?

Was it Bill Clinton when, for all his charm, he turned out to be sleazy? Was it Reagan for refusing to own up to the Iran-Contra affair? Was it Bush (junior) when his rationale for the war in Iraq slipped imperceptibly from Weapons of Mass Destruction to connections to Al-Qaeda (when the 9/11 Commission concluded that both of these were false) to Saddam Hussein was horrible and we needed to get rid of him? Or was it John Kerry who almost torpedoed his own election campaign when he said that he 'actually voted against the war before he voted for it'?

Or is it something about ourselves, we the electorate in whatever country, who always want to have our cake and eat it too, and will not elect a candidate who genuinely presents us with the hard truth. Either way, I wonder whether the real challenge in the 'war on terror', devastatingly real whatever its politics, is not military but philosophical, moral and spiritual. While there is fuel to the fire of hatred there will be no end of suicide bombers. The West needs to once more take the high moral ground and call the world to safer reality, a nobler future and a better way of living. To do that, it just may be we need to set our own house in order. A Reformation indeed. Perhaps we should start by telling (and listening to) the truth.

Josh Moody, Connecticut