The Whole Truth And Nuttin' But

Marcus Aurelius, the famed and infamous Roman Emperor once said;

“If it is not right, do not do it; if it is not true do not say it.”

Sage advice, but in our clouded counter culture, where Bill Clinton
lowered the bar for honesty around the lowest mark of a drunken limbo
contest at a wedding reception, it seems that even the most ardent of
those who espouse the virtues of truth, and honour could feel somewhat muddled.

"Truth", should not have to have quotation marks, just like Paris Hilton
should not have to carry around a breathalyser to know she's a brainless
drunken tart. It should be a given that truth should always simply be the
truth, just like Paris Hilton should always be stinking of over-priced
Martinis - both are just a given.

Now if any of my liberal minded, hybrid car driving, Keith Olbermann
worshipping, readers are thinking this is going to be some dissertation
against the just struggle in Iraq, you've come to the wrong spot. I
believe President Bush is an honest man, who is fighting to protect
innocent Iraqi's who had been terrorized and murdered for over a decade
under Saddam Hussein, and continue to be terrorized and murdered by crazed
Jihadists who want to push forth their reign of genocide.

Anyway, we won't go there today. Like James Bowman noted about
honor its concept has changed through the ages, and the same can be said about truth.

Truth is not subjective, nor is it, as the simpleton's conventional wisdom
says, "in shades of grey". Truth is truth, or at least until the media gets
their nefarious little hands on it.

The trouble lies in whether we always need to know the truth, and in whether
knowing the truth benefits us in any way. The brain sucking pod people at
CNN and the rest of the media have created the fiction that "the people have
the right to know" - but do we really, or is that just a euphemism the
media uses to destroy lives, and spread political agendas.

But what about withholding the truth? Is it any less dishonest than
an outright lie? To lie by omission is to remain silent, withholding
the truth from someone else. Silence is deception in that it gives a
false impression to the person from whom the information is being withheld.

I suppose this post is cathartic for me tonight, and perhaps a little aimless,
like Lindsay Lohan at a petting zoo after a meth bender. My point, (and I do
have one), is this.


"If you truly want honesty, don't ask questions you don't really want the
answer to”

Cordially

Joe