To Tell the Truth

Ions of time ago, way back in the dark ages before time began … in the 1950s, there was a television show called To Tell the Truth, produced by Goodson-Todman Productions.  The show, featuring a host and panel of four celebrities who must discern which one of three other people–(one truth-teller and two impostors) was actually telling the truth.   The show aired in one form or another for six decades. 

I sometimes wonder if the odds at finding the truth weren’t better on that television show than they are in real life today.  It seems there is an epidemic of lying in America these days! 

The latest, and most obvious, case is the conviction of Casey Anthony in an Orange County, Florida court, where Judge Belvin Perry sentenced her to four, consecutive one-year prison terms for lying to law enforcement during the course of their investigation.

In Detroit (MI), a major news item continues to be the jail time being served by Detroit’s former mayor, Kwame Kilpatrick, who amongst other things lied in court, perjuring himself, and is serving time currently in a federal prison.

Former Major League Baseball pitcher Roger Clemens is in federal court in Washington on charges that he lied to Congress in 2008 concerning his alleged use of performance-enhancing drugs.

If these charges of perjury weren’t so serious, it would be laughable that any American citizen would ever be hauled into court for lying to Congress.  Are there actually politicians (as opposed to statesmen) inside the Beltway that know the difference anymore between telling the truth and lying? 

I have an idea!  Let’s haul all of Washington, D.C. into Judge Belvin Perry’s courtroom and let him sentence them one year for each count of congressional and presidential lies!  Do you think there are enough beds in American prisons to hold them all? 

Since childhood, I’ve wondered why anyone would have to swear on a Bible in a courtroom to “tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.”  Shouldn’t everyone tell the truth, every time, to everyone, everywhere? 

Now, don’t get me wrong—it isn’t like I haven’t told a few lies in my own lifetime.  To say or imply otherwise would be … well … lying!  But when one steps into the witness stand in a court of law, or when one takes an oath of office such as mayor, representative, or president, the citizenry of this nation should be able to expect those officials to tell the truth. 

Perhaps it’s time for Americans to demand more truth and less political spin (lies) from our elected officials.  If it’s reasonable to expect advertisers, and baseball pitchers, and lenders, and ordinary citizens to tell the truth about missing children, products, and steroid use, then it is certainly reasonable to expect that our elected officials do the same.

But, that’s just my opinion!  But then again, I’m tired of watching a great city like Detroit reduced to ruins while the politicians who have ridden it to the ground live “high on the hog” at taxpayer expense.  I’m wearied, watching Washington bankrupt America while pretending to have our best interest at heart. 

Maybe reality is like the old not-so-funny joke:  How do you know if a politician is lying?  (His lips are moving.)  Or that other sarcastic comment, “I’m from the government and I’m here to help.”

BTW, do you pray?  If so, perhaps the words to an old song could help us to improve the conditions and the culture in which we live—It’s time to pray to the God who watches o’er us … It’s time to seek His help without delay … It’s time for all America to pray.  Amen?

Cheers!