Holte's corner

When People Lie

I was just reading the Washington Post, something I've been doing religiously since my family moved back to Maryland from New Jersey (where I'd been reading the New York Times religiously and missing the comics) back in 1972. Today's Washington Post Magazine has an article called "Held Hostage by History," that talks about the authors experience with her parents, who had been employees of the Somosa regime when the Sandinistas came to power.

What struck me were the two lies she mentioned. One when she was a child inventing reasons why her family was hostile to the Sandinista's. The second was a lie told by a former Sandinista, a year ago:

"I was amazed too, when I read contemporary articles about those days. The dates and facts cited were often wrong. One story concerned Dora Maria Tellez Arguello, who, as "Comandante Two," served under Pastora in the raid. In 2004, she was invited to teach a class on third-world politics and ethics at Harvard Divinity School. When the U.S. State Department denied her a visa for having participated in "terrorist" activities, controversy erupted.

"We never made attacks against civilians, not in the history of Sandinismo," the Chicago Tribune quoted her as saying. She called being at the Palace "a great honor," adding that, "No one was hurt, not one hostage."

But this was a blatant lie, and the author tells how her mother [and the world] were witnesses to what a lie it was:

Of course, that's not true. Most of those taken hostage at the Palace were civilians, and the day my mother was released, La Prensa reported five people dead. Fourteen others were reported wounded.

So people lie? What's the big deal? Well, these lies have consequences, and people should fact check people's claims. This person was blocked from visiting the US because of her participation in the Sandinistas. But what compounded her error was that she refused to admit that her group had done anything that might have justified such a reaction.

And Lies prevent people from dealing with life and moving on. The Press doesn't fact check claims of either left or right -- and the result is that people can't see through the layers of BS they put out to come up with a strait middle path. Since they don't do it, we [collectively and individually] have to -- when we have time. I now see that the Bush administration was well within their right to label her as an unrepentant "terrorist" -- though that is not precisely what she was (she was an unrepetant and dishonest insurgent). And how can any School invite a liar to teach on Ethics?

Anyway I don't have time for long well written essays right now, so I'll just leave you with that thought and a URL:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/24/AR2006012400883.html

Posted by cholte at January 29, 2006 01:32 PM