Have you noticed that many people are disconnected with reality? Even as I examine my own verbal behavior, I sometimes either embellish the facts, omit information or flat make up things. Now I consider myself to be a principled, honest individual. And I understand that people need psychological defense mechanisms to function in today's increasingly complex society.
I have noticed lately that more and more people are lying or shading the truth. Its everywhere! It doesn't matter if its a Bush Ad attacking Kerry or vice versa. (Although I think Bush has been telling more fibs than Kerry has.) I'd like to ask both of these candidates to tell us the truth, the absolute whole truth and nothing else. No more spin please!
I know its nearly impossible to be truthful all of the time. For example, there are times that you simply cannot tell your boss exactly what is on your mind! Or even worse, your significant other. For me that is not a big problem. The only boss I have is my wife and she knows me too well for me to engage in any deception. People hate to face reality. When the stock market was nose-diving, I used to throw my IRA monthly summary into my file, unopened and unread. I simply did not want to learn the truth!
This morning I read in the NY Times that the President plans to cut many Federal programs which may affect many if not all Americans...like Medicare, Social Security, Education (Pell Grants), VA programs and the list goes on. But the White House does not want this to be publicized because this is an election year. I can accept this line of thinking, but we need the truth to face reality! We simply cannot go on putting unopened envelopes into our files! Archibald Cox, the late Harvard Law professor and the special prosecutor who got rid of Tricky Dick Nixon, said, "If the government does not trust the people, how can the people trust the government? We need reality and not just the reality shows on TV!
I know the reason why its difficult to tell the truth and face reality. Every morning we get up and look in the mirror. We are facing reality at a time when our senses are not 100%. It can be unsettling at times. It is for some of us at that moment, to subconsciously make a decision to escape "reality" and create some "stories" that make us happy. LOL.