| The title of Scott McClellan's recent confessional referred to the "culture of deception" in Washington. Liberals took great joy in this, but McClellan was not referring only to this administration and Iraq. Chief among the deceptions practiced as a bipartisan matter of course, in government at all levels, is ignoring the elephant in the room. Playing "never mind the man behind the curtain." I.e., hiding from the American public the degree to which things have become really screwed up. To me, a necessary quality of Illinois's next Senator is that they break this mold.
Political happy-talk combined with the misdirection of emotionally-charged social wedge issues and identity politics is the reason why, over and over, we seem to be constantly "surprised" by disasters that, in truth, were years if not decades in the making, from massive pension underfunding at the local and state levels, to global warming and acid rain ignored by our federal government and international bodies. We as the American public are in turn all too willing to tune out stats on "boring" or difficult topics like trade agreements or mortgage underwriting practices, and engage in the fantasy that "things aren't that bad," which allows us to ignore problems, watch Dancing With the Stars, and continue on with business as usual - until it's very late in the game.
In a country where most Americans are relatively disgusted with legislatures, a culture of deception is key to the amazing re-election rate of incumbents, as much so as gerrymandering, fundraising advantage, greater access to press, and the ability to blame the other party or other members of a legislative body. Getting re-elected practically requires officeholders to tell Americans that things are going to be all right with just a few tweaks, rather than requiring a real makeover.
I have always been an optimist. I always believe we can get better. But before healing can start, the true scope and scale of a problem has to be admitted, and sometimes surgery is required. Right now we are facing a number of emergencies that, by and large, our political leadership and our media have refused to face up to. And chief among the qualities I want to see in Illinois's next Senator are both the knowledge and the courage to tell it like it is, so we can start doing, at least tomorrow, what we should have done yesterday. To do anything less is to perpetuate the culture of deception. |
