The realization that deceiving others for any self-serving purpose eventually erodes public trust and destroys not only interpersonal relations but the community itself, began in writing around 1750 BC with Hammurabi. It is not new.
But here we are politically 3,800 years later, still trying to sort out what is true and what is not that is being asserted and promised by two aging presidential candidates vying for election to one of the most influential leadership positions in the world. Now there is one.
In The Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous, there is the simple statement that “There are those who are constitutionally incapable of telling the truth….There are such unfortunates.” They are unlikely to recover. They will probably die on the street from the illness of alcoholism after it steals everything and every one of worth that they have. Getting to the radical truths in problem drinkers’ personal history about the consequences of their drinking is the first step to recovery. It is never easy. There are many ways to avoid the stark truths, which are the primary way to a recovery lifestyle.
In the world of politics, when running for election or re-election, it is crucial to cast your image in the brightest possible light. That means avoiding the stark truth at all costs or at least softening that reality with twisted words. Below are several ways to keep talking while avoiding unpleasant truths of one’s past when speaking publicly.
Perseverating –Repeating previously stated, carefully prepared phrases or stories, again and again, true or not, in various situations, can make you look powerful and smart, for a while. Some say repetition is still the most effective educational method. But it also soon becomes boring and enkindles impressions that you don’t know in any depth what you are talking about.
Magical Thinking – Stating what one wants to be true, with clarity and passion, as if it were already true. Sometimes this kind of thinking comes with believing something will be true now that you’ve said it so boldly. Other times it is just wishing against the wind, hoping against hope, and expressing yourself as if your life depends on it. Eventually, if one lives long enough, it may become clear that magical thinking fails. It produces nothing. But it calms the magical thinker temporarily anyway.
Hyperbole – Exaggerate profusely, as in “…like nothing anybody’s ever seen before”, or “the best record of success ever achieved in history”. Our public political events and campaign rhetoric are so full of exaggerations now that we can be overwhelmed by what would be called, in addiction treatment or small group dynamics, bullshit”. Fact-checking has become necessary for all such events to keep the water we swim in at least a bit clearer.
Minimizing – The frequent partner of hyperbole is its opposite, making things small in conversation that are actually very serious. Oscillating between exaggerating one thing and minimizing another is a clever way of shaping verbal images that sound true and exciting but sabotage any efforts to communicate as at least minimally ethical adults — openly, calmly, and honestly. Can this candidate calm down and talk seriously and cogently about issues, or not? Can they represent reality accurately, even when it does not further their political cause? If not, be suspicious. And maybe afraid, very afraid!
Excessive Self-reference – Count the number of times your candidate refers to their own person. Talking about yourself seriously and carefully can be highly valued humility. But frequently referring to yourself can also be narcissistic blindness to your surroundings and other people. Such frequent self-reference should always enkindle suspicion when you hear it. It’s not always harmful, but in a top politician, it does suggest a narrowing of interpersonal engagement and thus the reality-testing that helps sort out your identity and consider how to contribute to the healthiness of society. Frequent self-reference is more adolescent than adult perspectives, the kind one needs for a life of governing others.
Manipulating – Getting other people to do what you want them to do by using their feelings. Complex manipulating involves enkindling in others reasons for feeling fearful, sad, glad, hurt, or regretful. These can be enlisted in compelling people to buy, believe, vote, or otherwise decide to follow your lead.
Fear, for example, is a great motivator. You may be able to scare some people into relying on you as a solution to whatever makes them anxious. You can “fool some of the people all the time and all the people some of the time!” (Abe Lincoln) As a pattern in political speeches, stories, and statistics that emphasize the negative side of a society can imply that citizens need saving from the mess and the speaker may be the only one who can help.
Sad stories of unfortunate events for vulnerable people can be used to blame former officials for negative results even if those forebears had little or nothing to do with the unfortunate happenings. Relating incidents of old people, children, marginalized folks, foreigners, etc. can get listeners on your side claiming to want to help those unfortunates better than your colleagues or political adversaries.
Being reminded of people being hurt by the government through first-person testimonies of participating families with genuine hurt on their faces can be twisted into assuming that that family pain was somebody’s fault. The speaker then looks better than the perpetrator.
A speaker confessing their own regrets of past failures, (artfully minimized) bolstered by visible signs of compunction, pulls at the heartstrings of all of us who have caused people hurt in the past and continue to feel remorse. We all know on some level, that we have done wrong and thus identify with others who are open about their wrongs. We are fortunate to have been forgiven, which makes us more inclined towards minimizing the speaker’s failures.
Promising – Promises are mostly manipulation, as in “like me now and I’ll produce later”, or some form of “I’ll quit (drinking, screwing up,) tomorrow”. When pressure for change is high, the urge to promise better behavior tomorrow rises, usually unrealistically. We all want to believe in a bright future so are inclined to strengthen our imagination with confidence that a self-assured leader will take us there, without much effort on our part. Politicians are of course notorious for over-promising to get elected.
Excuses – The easy but sometimes desperate phrases of youth like “The dog ate my homework” don’t mature much in the lives of some people, even as they should be gaining wisdom from experience. For politicians, such justifications may become an almost impulsive strategy for avoiding legislative and administrative failures. The two-party system offers easy excuses for politicians’ failure to effectively address the obvious needs of the country, as in – “It was that other party’s fault”. Persistent national problems that continue to plague us and have been doing so for decades – like over-spending, income inequality, racism and its cousin reverse racism, horrible corrections system atrocities, health-care inefficiencies, election policies, and ignoring the character aspect of our elections—need more than excuses.
Scolding/Blaming others – I have seen sharply and wisely crafted scolding be very effective in getting defeated addicts to look closely at the consequences of their drug use behavior, the first step towards recovery. But scolding can also be brutal and harmful to the self-esteem of an already forlorn human desperately seeking help. Similarly, scolding a political adversary unfairly, brutally, and falsely, reveals an animal lack of character that is hard to forget. “Ad hominem arguments (against the person’s character rather than their behavior or ideas) may look powerful but are seen by debate experts as quite weak.
Distracting – Drawing peoples’ attention to something pleasant, sentimental, humorous, or outrageous, such as a tear-jerking story, playing victim, an extraneous joke, or circumstantial reference like congratulating someone present, miss the serious points of discussion and debate. It is a special kind of manipulation, using the enjoyment of joy to distract from substance. Excessive sweetness to a crowd of ordinary citizens should evoke suspicion about the essence of what a politician is trying to do. Where is the “meat” of how the candidate plans to change or propose systems, regulations, and practices for the benefit of people? Many citizens can be easily distracted by appearances, stances, glitz, charm, and hearing what we want to hear.
Silence – A powerful strategy in some nasty and politically dangerous situations is to simply fall silent. Say nothing. If you have positive convictions about something currently unpopular, maybe still unformed clearly in your mind, stay silent. Do not acknowledge your ambivalence, as an adult may do. Refuse to comment even if it is about something with as much historical importance as impeachment. You may look like a coward, and indeed, may be such. But it will at least put off the situation in which you are exposed to face-to-face criticism and derision by quality colleagues. How history will evaluate you is another story.
Gordon J Hilsman is a retired clinical educator now living in the Pacific Northwest with his wife of 44 years. He has authored five books, including Assessing the CHARACTER of Candidates for National Political Office: In Search of a Collaborative Spirit. He can be reached at ghilsman@gmail.com, www.Spiritaulclinician.com, or www.GordonJHilsman.com.
