Transparency and politics

[Gerr]

Not sure if this topic belongs here or in another, since it is not about politics per se.  Feel free to move it where you think it belongs.

Can a person be completely transparent and truthful and run for public office?  A friend said such a person could  not survive or go far in politics.  What do you think?

Is double-talk, obfuscation, and outright lying be standard fare when running for public office?

[rudywoofs (Pam)]

I don't think a person needs to bare his/her life and soul to run for political office (or for any job).  No matter how truthful a person tries to be, if there is an opposition, they will find **something** about which to harangue or throw mud

Even someone who is sharing his/her story for personal witnessing will find people who take what they say, and twist it into something completely vile.

[james423]

With our present news media,  double-talk, obfuscation, and outright lying are perceived as being essential by many people because there is no much "mud" i.e. nasty comments floating around. Even for a minor political office, such as the one I held for a time, it is very hard not to compromise your principles unless you are directly connected to God and influenced directly and substantially by Him.

As a human being, you want to keep a clear, honest view of yourself in the eyes of other people.  This is very difficult when people start digging into your personal life to find that "mud".  At this point, a person wants to throw an investigative reporter off track by just slightly bending the truth.  This leads downward until that person is completely and totally telling one lie after another. 

No, this "mud" is not necessary, but reporters report it because they want to keep their jobs and people enjoy seeing others dragged down because they think this elevates them. It's like a carved pillar I once saw in an Oslo park.  Everyone on the pillar was grabbing the person(s) above them, trying to drag them down.   The one on top was being grabbed by a score of hands trying to topple that person off the top. Degrading others doesn't elevate oneself, but in the world today this is the way people seek to rise to the top.