A Little Lie or a Big Lie

So often, a little lie turns into a big lie. A little fib turns into a big fight. A little thing turns into a world war.

A politician says one thing, Twitter says another. A spokesperson says one thing, the edited video says another. An official says one thing, the head says another.

Why is this? Why are stories so different? Why is the truth so often twisted? Why is the truth so hard to find?

Is it the people? Is it an agenda? Is it on purpose? Is it an accident?

Let’s take a look at some of the biggest lies in politics… ever.

When you talk about lies in politics, people will almost always think of the Clinton Lewinsky affair. How did this all start? A bad decision. How did this all end? An impeachment.

Why lie about something like this? If you are caught, why not admit it? If you are caught, why not own up to it and apologize?

First and foremost, as a politician, there is no room for mistakes. As unrealistic as it is, politicians must be perfect. Politicians do not have room for error. One small error is turned into a large issue due to political polarization.

In the case of Clinton, the lies went as far as perjury, something which might be even worse. Why would you commit perjury? In this case, if the truth was never revealed, Clinton was set. If the truth was revealed, which it was, he was screwed.

A lie was used to save his political career. A lie was used to prevent backlash. A lie was used when it should not have been used.

Another lie we often hear about now is “The Big Lie” or “The Big Steal”, depending on your political party, which has been told by supporters of Donald Trump.

Why would a President lie about winning an election when data shows he lost? There are three schools of thought to answer this question.

The first school of thought is that he is right and he won the election. I won’t dive more into this one.

The second school of thought is that he genuinely believes he won. Whether this is because he had advisors telling him this, he himself could not accept defeat, or another reason, we may never know.

The third school of thought is a unique one. This school of thought believes that while he knows he lost, he felt like he had the power of his supporters who would believe what he said and therefore support him.

All three of these thoughts are dangerous, showing the sheer power of a politician. By perpetuating this lie, polarization grew and republicans were given new talking points about democrats and vice verse.

Overall, most every politician will lie in their career. Whether the lie is to further their agenda, because they truly believe it, or to protect themselves, we may never know.

What we do know is that lies by politicians will only further a culture of polarization in which neighbors will fight and disagreement will disappear.

It is time for politicians to be honest with their constituents and the American people. Own up to your mistakes, eat your ego when you lose, admit when you lie, and be a good human again.

These constituents got you to where you are and they can get you out as well.