There is no First Amendment Right to Lie

The news about Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich and his retailing of Obama’s Senate seat has spread across the news media at light speed. What is most surprising about this is the number of people shocked at this revelation. Apparently quite a few people in this country are still under the impression that most politicians are honest, decent people. We are still, obviously, a nation of Pollyanna’s. Of course, the election of Obama proves that contention.

In the past a few courageous representatives had the cahonies to offer up bills that would have mandated honesty in political speech. The reaction of their peers was, to say the least, telling. In strident tones akin to how Obama’s pastor delivers a sermon, these men and women were dressed down as fools at best and traitors to the American way of life at worst. Illinois is not the only bastion of corruption in the country. Washington DC has been offering graduate courses in the discipline for nearly two centuries. Here in my home state of Nevada we have a sign dedicating a government building. On the sign are the names of the County Commissioners that were sitting in office at that time. Of the seven on that list, four are now serving prison terms.

When I served in the Nevada Legislature, I worked up the number of legislators I felt could be counted on to keep their word, regards of the financial or political cost. The list was considerably longer at the beginning of my term than at the end.

Expediency now rules that day. I have been told more often than not buy sitting politicians that unless I am willing to compromise my integrity, I have no hope of ever gaining another political office. The big campaign donors will not support someone who has standards. Sadly, I have come to believe them.

The First Amendment to the Constitution reads thusly: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

You will notice that speech is the third clause in this contract with the American People. The Founding Fathers felt that dealing with religion was more important. (That revelation alone would cause a riot in some universities.) You will also notice that “false speech” is not mentioned. Simply because lying is not listed does not mean it is included in the freedom of speech. Some lawyers are paid per day what most if us consider a nice quarterly wage to research contextual intentions in our country’s founding documents. A very brief read-through will show that lying was condemned by every member of the constitutional convention. In fact, “dealing falsely” was one of the reasons for the seceding of the Americas from the British Empire. So why do our governments, State and Federal, bend over so far to protect liars? Why do they react so violently when honesty is suggested as a mandated item in political performance?

The reason is that dishonesty has become an ingrained part of the American way of life. We begin with the “little white lie” to protect someone’s feelings, and when enough of those have numbed our conscience, we move on to larger and larger lies, including the ones we tell our spouses and the IRS. Perhaps this is why Sarah Palin was so viciously attacked by women’s groups and continues to be so, including in the funny pages.

Some say a politician who is “too honest” is a danger because of the diplomatic repercussions. People are forgetting the legacy of Ronald Reagan. He refrained from telling even the little white lies, managing rather to place the uncomfortable truth into true diplomatic terms, adding a touch of humor and thus adding to his respect.

Today our broadcast media is filed with lies…most of them commercials for items that we not only don’t need but could be potentially fatal if used. The purveyors of these products hide behind their perverted view of the First Amendment as protection and those whose duty it is to police the airwaves sit back and let the crooks get away with their crimes. It was once said that if you repeat a lie often enough, people will come to believe it. That day has indeed come and I don’t see it getting any better until the American Voter wakes up.