subject: Just Tell The Truth [print this page] "Oh what a tangled web we weave when first we parctice to deceive" Sir Walter Scott
In a speech given before veterans and senior citizens on March 2, 2008, Attorney General and current US Senate Candidate Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut got up to deliver a speech about an earlier time in his life, he said, "We have learned something important since the days that I served in Vietnam." Please focus in on the lie, Mr. Blumenthal said to the group gathered in Norwalk that day, "Since the days that I served in Vietnam."
As reported in the NY Times and other media outlets today, there was one big problem in Blumenthal's speech, he lied. Mr. Blumenthal never served in Vietnam. According to the Times, he obtained at least five military deferments from 1965 to 1970 and took repeated steps that enabled him to avoid going to war.
Ask any veteran or military servicemen currently serving our country, when the phonies and frauds lie about their military record, or lack thereof, it is an insult of major proportions, and when a fraud is caught in an outright lie, to spin it off by saying one "misspoke" is outrageous.
It is almost impossible to conceal the truth forever. It is the natural order of things that the truth will eventually come out. This single fact is the foundation of our judicial system and the basis on which all human relationships are formed. Any relationship, whether it be political, personal, professional or business, a relationship built upon a lie cannot endure; it would be like building a structure with its foundation on sand.
On the flip side, a relationship based on truth will benefit all involved, and these benefits are unlimited. Make it a practice to tell the truth in all that you do-even when it doesn't matter-and you will form a habit of truthfulness. You will know intuitively that it is better to tell the truth and face the consequences than to launch a falsehood that will eventually make itself known to the world. As Emerson noted, God offers to every mind its choice between truth and falsehood. Take which you please - you can never have both.
We are brought into this world and blessed with many gifts, one of the most powerful is the gift of free will, the power to choose, whether it be for good or evil, right or wrong, to speak the truth or to deceive and lie. Remember that the familiar face looking back at you in the mirror everyday is counting on you, choose well.
