“Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.” John 8:44
This was part of a long passage in John that started with the scribes and pharisees bringing Jesus an adulterous women and ended with them attempting to stone Jesus because he claimed to be God’s son.
Clearly this was a frustrating time for Jesus because he was doing his best to get his message across. At every turn, however, the Jews insisted on their interpretation of his words. Here’s just one example.
“Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death. Then said the Jews unto him, Now we know that thou hast a devil. Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and thou sayest, If a man keep my saying, he shall never taste of death” John 8:51-52
In political circles, this is called spin. It is a regular part of most modern campaigns. Karl Rove’s mastery of spin played a big role in George Bush’s two presidential victories.
Spin is just a pretty word for lying.
The problem is spin is so pervasive, that I’m afraid the daily conversations in the presidential campaign are not about issues or even history. They are just about the daily spin.
Here’s an example.
In May, President Bush used the occasion of a speech in Israel to characterize Senator Obama’s willingness to negotiate with Iran as, “the false comfort of appeasement, which has been repeatedly discredited by history”
Senator McCain was even more direct saying, “the belief that somehow communications and positions and willingness to sit down and have serious negotiations need to be done in a face to face fashion as Senator Obama wants to do, which then enhances the prestige of a nation that’s a sponsor of terrorists and is directly responsible for the deaths of brave young Americans, I think is an unacceptable position, and shows that Senator Obama does not have the knowledge, the experience, the background to make the kind of judgments that are necessary to preserve this nation’s security.”
Yet by July, not two months later, Secretary Rice was doing exactly what President Bush and Senator McCain criticized Senator Obama for proposing – negotiate with Iran without pre-conditions.
Did Bush and McCain apologize to Obama for their previous comments or somehow give him credit for being right after all? No they didn’t need to because they assume that the American people are stupid and won’t hold them accountable. If the polls are any indication, they are right.
Here’s another that you might enjoy.
In March President Bush said of a proposed timetable for Iraq withdrawal, “The consequences of imposing such a specific and random date of withdrawal would be disastrous. Our enemies in Iraq would simply have to mark their calendars. They’d spend the months ahead plotting how to use their new safe haven once we were to leave.”
John McCain was more specific in May, “For Obama to talk about dates for withdrawal, which basically is surrender in Iraq after we’re succeeding so well is, I think, really inexcusable.”
Now it’s August and guess what. We just signed a deal with the Iraqi’s that includes – a timetable to withdraw our troops! The people who insisted on it – the Iraqi’s. Why did the current Iraqi government insist upon it? Because they knew that they were going to get a much better deal negotiating with the Bush administration than they would negotiating with an Obama administration. This is exactly the sort of political reaction that Obama predicted.
Did President Bush and Senator McCain apologize to Senator Obama or at least acknowledge that he may have been right about a timetable after all? No they didn’t because they assume that American people are lazy, have short attention spans, and won’t hold them accountable. Besides they have been successful in convincing the American people that Senator Obama’s foreign policy judgement can’t be trusted – so why bother.