A Debt Of Gratitude To Senator Dole: Truth Counts

What Bob Dole's personal or political position on health care reform (or much else) actually is, I do not know. Some might say that fact is a sad statement on the average person's knowledge of our political players, but it is the truth.

However, I do know that because our society in general is in deep trouble we owe Senator Bob Dole a debt of gratitude for his recent statement on what the truth was about the television ad promoting the newest health care bill.

His call to pull the ad because it was wrapped up in at least one verifiable lie set a pace that will be hard for most politicians to keep up with.

It doesn’t take a genius: honesty makes relationships, lies break relationships. We see these truths in families, we see them in business.

We see how dishonesty has deteriorated the fabric of our society on every level, especially in the political arena. The relationship that people thought they had with the Democratic leadership over the last year is now fragmented by lies.

Republicans that were trusted as shining jewels of virtue have not only fallen by the same measure they have lied, many have irrationally excused their lying and in doing so have come to believe their own lies.

In a day when many people not only do not know the definition of a lie, they don’t care what it is, Senator Dole, stands apart from the rest.

Placing an accurate value on honesty, he is obviously willing to state the truth and stand by it even if it means risking relationships among his peers.

I do not know enough about him to be certain of which, but he either has a reputation for honesty or he means to get one, and his example in this is worth following.

Evidently, unlike many politicians, Senator Dole understands that truth does not change and that trying to keep up with lies which will follow you into the future makes life awkward at best.

Senator Dole apparently does not believe that ends justify means or that the definition of a lie is nebulous.

Some define a lie as anything that is not the truth while others would define a lie as any untruth told for selfish gain. Some claim that white, or social lies, are okay, while dishonesty in business and personal relationships should be avoided.

Justifying a lie on the grounds of saving the life of another would seem to surely have some validation, after all, Hitler lost his right to the truth when he knocked on the front doors of those who were protecting others from his plots.

In most arenas of life, though, justifying lies is too fine a line to safely walk, and lying to push an agenda that is so obviously more about money than saving lives crosses that line and should not be allowed.

Thank you, Sir, for saying that truth counts and that it counts a lot. Thank you for being willing to call fiction a lie. Thank you for setting a high standard for other politicians.

I know enough about your work, your sacrifices, and your perseverance to know that they are crucial examples today’s society needs badly, but calling for truth in this day and time means that your name should be used by parents and teachers everywhere as a worthy object lesson of what character is all about.

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