It seems little should be left for the presidential campaigns to accomplish at this juncture so close to Tuesday and the General Election. The exception perhaps might be Mitt Romney continuing his Tommy Flanagan shtick.
You don’t remember Tommy Flanagan? Maybe the name will ring a bell when you think of the late 1980s catchphrase: “That’s the ticket!” Flanagan was the Jon Lovitz on character on Saturday Night Live who introduced himself as a member of ” Pathological Liars Anonymous” and would commence outrageous untruths such as a recurring lie that he was married to Morgan Fairchild.
Romney is not, of course, the first presidential candidate to prevaricate. There are fewer candidates who come to mind with such a robust flair for lying. Romney has served more whoppers than Burger King. The latest stray from the truth, to be quite kind, is a tale foisted upon Ohio voters through advertising that major manufacturer Jeep plans to move its operation from the Buckeye State to China. Gaulberto Ranieri, a senior vice president for corporate communications, wrote in an Oct. 25 blog post on Chrysler’s website:
“It is a leap that would be difficult even for professional circus acrobats.”
As is the case with many lies spun by the Romney campaign with refusal to come clean, even when clear evidence presents itself, the Jeep lie persists even though it has been debunked by the Chrysler CEO whose corporation owns the brand.
Many political observers have noted that if hypocrisy was criminal much of the Republican party, and yes politicians in general, would be locked up. Still, I have to wonder how the well-placed Latter Day Saints church member Romney fares with those of his own faith when it comes to the governor’s seemingly pathological lying.
I have only known a few Mormons well but most of those were very fair-minded and kind individuals. Greed and blind ambition are not desires I normally associate with those of the LDS church. Clean and eager, young bicycle-riding men in white short-sleeve shirts with ties, yes. Covetousness, no.
There are passages I have found out in the wide expanses of the Internet that makes the case for Mormons lying when a greater good is involved. One particular thesis is quite long but I present it if you care to sift through it.
Whether a higher power is reason enough for so many political falsehoods by Romney, I am not qualified to say. And I don’t know about the LDS church but I do know lying is frowned upon in “The Ten Commandments” even though the older scriptures frame it as not bearing false witness against one’s neighbor. Hey, if it’s your neighbor you can lie. Everyone else … Even I am not so shallow as to believe that.
If you vote and read this, you may have already voted. If not, it’s just more food for thought. I think most people who understand laws of civility realize lying is just not a very good act, whether one is religious or not. If the discourse delivered by one who seeks the presidency of the United States seems on the side of pathological prevarication, then something is indeed troubling about it.