So yesterday, I committed the Worst Crime Possible in my moral universe. I lied to someone I love. I’m so eaten up by it I can hardly stand it, even though I’ve confessed and begged forgiveness already. We’ll see if I get it. But anyway, it’s got me thinking: Edwards is right about “two Americas,” but he’s wrong about the nature of that difference. It’s not wealth, power or ideology separating us, it’s a simple matter of decency. We are mostly decent people here in the librul blogosphere, and when we fight, it has to do with a matter of degree, most of the time. We want our leaders and politicians and fellow travelers to be “this much” progressive or we want them to be “even more so.” We get huffy and call each other names, but at the end of the day we can for the most part agree to disagree, sing kumbaya, and have a beer together. The reason we can be this way is because we’re not Big Fakers. Fakery, falsehood, lies: just not acceptable in most of our circles, and I’m coming to understand that the real problem in the Village is that it’s fucking SOP for them, 24/7. Indeed, they have awards and money flows in great quantity to the ones who are the best Liars. The saddest thing to me is that these morally crippled cumsucking parasites have managed to infect American culture with their ’values.’ I see it more and more, and esp in the young: Lying is becoming not just “ok,” but expected, lauded and preferred. This is a Very Bad thing and we need to do more to stop/correct this trend.

There’s that saying, and gawddayum I know it to be true today: Don’t lie to yourself. Some even add, “lie to anyone else, just not yourself,” and I understand that perspective even as I can’t quite agree. But the motivation is of course that truth and reality don’t “go away” just because one chooses not to perceive/embrace/deal with them. Isn’t that really what our whole beef with Bush Republicans is? La La La, they can’t hear us, they can’t hear anyone, because all they can hear is the lies they tell each other. And look where that’s taken us all…obviously, crisis after crisis, disaster after disaster, failure after failure. The 28% may be able to pretend, but even some Republicans are starting to admit: a government built on lies can’t govern, and worse, it can really fuck things up for everyone.

Anyway, I suppose it’s trite and dull as an insight, and it’s mostly what we’ve been doing these last few years in the blogosphere, but today I’m recommitting to Truth. Truth is the shining sword in our battle against the darkness, it is the Bane of Evil and the foundation of all that is Good. I encourage everyone: tell the Truth today. Do so in front of people who don’t want to, or don’t often, hear it. Do so proudly, and be unafraid of the consequences. Take it from me, as I wallow in a suicidal sort of bitter self hatred, it’s the better way. Dear Goddess, do I know this now.  Read more