…you are deluded by men who have either deceived themselves or wish to deceive you. – Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson was the seventh president of the United States, serving from 1829-37. A complete review of Jackson’s presidency is beyond the scope of this feature, but it is interesting to note Jackson was the last president to preside over an America that was debt free.
Today’s Thought has particular relevance today. We are in the midst of as contentious an election as this has nation has seen, which is saying something because this nation has a long, honorable history of contentious presidential elections. Those who think the 2016 election cycle is anything special has either forgotten the lessons they learned in school or they skipped school altogether. The only thing that has changed is the medium, this nation having gone from broadsheets, town criers and pamphlets to radio, television and the Internet.
…you are deluded by men…
Politicians say this and politicians say that and, as numerous organizations are pointing out, not everything we are told is true. Fact checking has gone from a cottage industry to an integral part of coverage of any speech.
Too bad, really, because candidates for any office, be it dog catcher or president, should be telling us the truth and citing valid statistics. That they are not is our fault and not theirs. We are not going to bother citing specific examples. One there are so many it would be too time consuming to pick out one or two. Every major candidate for a major office has issued their share of half-truths, falsehoods and misinformation. Some intentionally, some unwittingly
…who are either deceived themselves or wish to deceive you.
Whether someone is deluding themselves with information they believe is true, or whether they are lying to us in an attempt to deceive us is not particularly important because nobody deludes us without our consent. If politicians are getting away with issuing misinformation and falsehoods it is only because we are allowing it by continuing to pay attention to them. When we stop paying attention to falsehoods and start demanding the truth, I think we will be surprised at how fast we get it. We are merely being given what we are tolerating.
