< Changing Worldviews.Commentary >
Words are powerful - Thoughts shape
- Ideas have
consequences
Sharon Hughes
The Center for Changing
Worldviews
Posted August 2, 2004
Wooing for America's Top Job
Monday at the DNC Convention
My Dear Fellow Americans,
As thousands of hopeful democrats filled the convention halls in Boston, "more
united than ever" we are told by party leaders, I wondered, what impact
this convention would have on the outcome of the election since the nominees
have already been determined? Not since 1952 have party conventions actually
nominated their candidate, so what's the point? A party for the faithful? A
week of free media coverage?
Hillary Clinton said tonight "Let's join together to do everything we
can to convince our fellow Americans to act on our convictions...to send Kerry
and Edwards to the White House." We know that the democrats' strategy
for this convention is to make sure the speakers tone down the anti-Bush, anti-war
rhetoric. This makes sense when you are trying to convince the undecided viewing
audience towards your point of view, especially when you have speakers on the
program who have displayed unrestrained outbursts, such as Al Gore and Howard
Dean.
However, what we, as American voters, need is not a well orchestrated show
of what will appeal to us, but just the plain old truth, from both parties,
of their real agenda, attitudes and ability to lead this nation. We don't need
to be wooed. Just tell us the truth and we'll decide. But, unfortunately, that
is not the nature of politics. So, each of us has to take it upon ourselves
to discern between the "advertising and selling" of convention campaigning
and the quality of the "product."
It's interesting to note that the original Greek for hypocrite is "play-acting".
A soft definition would be to pretend; a harsher one would be to deceive. Equally
interesting are the three definitions given by FreeSearch online: when someone
pretends to believe something that they do not really believe or that is the
opposite of what they do or say at another time; He's a hypocrite, he's always
lecturing other people on the environment but he drives around in a huge great
car. Their accusations of corruption are hypocritical, they have been just
as corrupt themselves.
Just as accurate history is a reliable source to knowing what really happened
in an era, so a candidate's record, not what they say or what others say about
them, tell us what they really believe and how they've acted on what they believe.
We can't lose sight of this in the midst of the "best" foot forward
performances and wooing that takes place.
There's too much at stake to settle for anything less than the truth...the
real truth about where the candidates stand on the issues. So, don't just take
their word for it, look at their record, and look at who supports them and
their record, and then compare those to the measuring rod of our Constitution,
the Bill of Rights and the principles upon which this great nation was founded.
Any other standard would not be "American."
As my recent radio guest, Mason Weaver, Author if "It's Okay to Leave
the Plantation" and founder of the New Underground Railroad, says, "The
truth is not as you see it; the truth is as it is..If you do not know the truth
when you find it, you will follow the one with the greatest lie."
Tomorrow we'll take a look at the records...
© Sharon Hughes 2004
Sharon is the President of The Center for Changing Worldviews, and hosts Changing
Worldviews TALK Radio which is heard on KDIA AM1640 San Francisco/Vallejo;
KGDP AM660 Santa Maria, CA and WITA AM1490 Knoxville, TN, as well as online
daily at Oneplace.com. Her column appears on several online news sites including CaliforniaRepublic.org, ChronWatch.com, MichNews.com, NewsBull, NewsWithViews.com, RenewAmerica.us and
others. For further information go to www.changingworldviews.com or
comment at http://changingworldviews.blogspot.com
Contact sharon@changingworldviews.com