Lies, Lies and More or Less Lies

Political integrity might count more than personal integrity. Most of us aren't personally acquainted with the candidates we vote for and have no way of gauging their personal integrity short of their getting exposed in some scandal. And even then, many people will still support a candidate because of ideological loyalty or the politician's political performance. Bill Clinton, for example. Or, as someone else has said, infamously, "I could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn't lose voters."

Thanks hightor. For some reason, political-integrity seems like an oxymoron.

That's so cynical, ntprof!

I think we have to apply a sliding scale to politicians – they have responsibilities to their constituents, they have commitments to their parties, they often have to make backroom deals, they are incessantly being questioned about situations which are in flux. It's not easy being in the public eye. People often have unreasonable expectations about what their representatives can accomplish – part of a politician's job is to strike a balance between popular demand and the practicalities of legislation. This often calls for some pretty fancy footwork.