As the ancient joke says, you know politicians are lying when their lips move.
It's easy to laugh it off, to settle in to the idea that politicians are incorrigible rascals who lie to us as a matter of course, that it will never change. This cynicism is like a poofy couch into which your body sinks, comfortable up until the moment you try to climb out. To be sure, lying is a perennial human failing, but it does not follow that we should accept it from our elected representatives. We should take it personally. We should call their offices, chastise them, maybe even unseat them on Election Day. Policies have consequences; lying politicians should face electoral consequences. This is crucial to the premise of representative government.
No, really. As a people we are entitled to expect elected representatives to assess credible evidence and make fair judgments with the participation of their constituents. (Some information, perhaps, may need to be classified.) Opinions about facts and legitimate evidence will diverge. We need honest debate when it comes to controversial questions.
One of the most controversial questions, which we've actually been debating in the United States for centuries, has been the use of birth control and the abortion of pregnancy. American debate over the stage at which life begins pre-dates the Declaration of Independence. The landmark ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court in Roe v. Wade in 1973 was just one battle in a centuries-long war over women's autonomy versus extending rights of personhood to the unborn.
If this nation finds a way to embark on an honest and comprehensive dialogue about reproductive rights, encompassing what we understand scientifically about human life from conception and our moral questions about life and reproduction, as well as the historical oppression of women and the socio-economic dimensions of family, child care, and work in the United States, it would be as momentous as the defeat of slavery. If conducted as a true dialogue instead of a battle of manipulation and force, the nation might discover a template for solidarity and healing that could be applied to other challenges. It would change us. This would not be easy, but it is possible.
We aren't there yet, and today's battle is over federal funding for Planned Parenthood, a non-profit organization providing subsidized health services to millions of low-income Americans - and not just women. Abortion is a small fraction of what they do and by law not one dime of the $500 million it receives from the federal government subsidizes abortions. Sinking them would not reduce abortions - in fact, it would halt sex education and contraceptive services that prevent unintended pregnancies, along with other needed health care services.
Our right wing is applying the same tactics they used to sink ACORN, an organization that provided social services and advocacy to the poor for decades until it became a target of the right during the Obama era. ACORN was destroyed in 2010 after a campaign of lies and manipulation. While no one could claim ACORN was a perfectly managed organization, the principal charges against it were fabricated with the purpose of destroying its reputation and financial viability. It worked, and the template is now being applied to Planned Parenthood.
Instead of making a space for honest, principled debate about human reproduction - which this column wholly supports - Congress is engaging in a dishonest knife fight.
Next week, we'll lay out the sordid plot, and the role our own Congressman, Steve Pearce, plays in it.