Truth and Consequences

One of the things that happens to national delegates (at least those who are well known in their various communities) is that folks ask lots of questions about their candidate. Some are easy ("Hey, what about that Berlin speech?"); some are not ("How can you support a candidate who won't salute the flag?").

The smear campaign against Barack Obama started a long time ago; "if you cannot dispute his platform rationally, just stir up enough mud to cloud the issue" seems to be an accepted method of debate. The Washington Post had a great piece tracing it back to its origins during Obama's campaign for US Senate. Check it out. It's a solid piece of research.

My Pagan instinct is to ignore the lies, and so not give them any energy (somewhat like my frequently forgetting the names of Republican contenders for Maine's state legislature....if they're below the radar I'm giving them nothing at all).

I certainly don't have the expertise to know how well that would work as a national political strategy, though, and the Obama campaign has put up a great site designed to fight falsehood with truth.

I can only hope those spreading lies (or at least those hearing them) will take the time to investigate. Whether their ethical standards are Karmic or based on Mosaic Law, respect for truth is a significant part of most people's ethics and beliefs, and breaking those laws brings consequences.

Many Pagans consider themselves "truth seekers and truth speakers", but I refuse to believe that we have cornered that particular market.