A little known mechanism credited to Plato in the writing of his Republic, known as the noble lie, has found a home in the heart of the GOP. The noble lie is a myth or an untruth that is knowingly told to maintain or to advance an agenda. When it comes to advancing a specific agenda, no one does it better than the GOP.
Consider the lie regarding the welfare to work requirement advertisement espoused by Mitt Romney's campaign. Or the pitifully weak attempt at levity offered by Romney when referencing Mr. Obama's birth certificate, a display that should have put the old southern strategy race-baiting dog whistlers to shame. Romney even went so far as to say that the president is attempting to 'shore up his base' when it comes to the people he claims are receiving welfare checks without the work requirement feature that was never removed.
The entire premise of many of the GOP's most pointed attacks on the president have been steeped in manufactured issues revolving around the fact that Barak Obama is fundamentally different from every man who has ever held the office of president in the history of this country.
When it comes to governing, there is no panacea or magic bullet, especially when attempting to construct policies that benefit the majority. Unfortunately, the GOP continues to be enamored with the convoluted notions of small government, lower taxes on the people and corporations that can afford to pay them the most, personal responsibility while simultaneously hating the Affordable Care Act mandate to be personally responsible by purchasing health insurance. They tout freedom and the supposed theft of said freedoms by big government liberals while attempting to ban abortion under any circumstance, robbing women of the freedom of choice. The tactics are clever, mendacious and very, very far from noble.
Troy Stafford
Williamsport
