Between 1968 and 1972, there was a television program entitled “Rowan & Martin’s Laugh In.” On that program, there was a regular comedy sketch by Lilly Tomlin portraying 5-year-old Edith Ann. As an adult taking on the role of a child, Tomlin sat in an extremely oversized rocking chair to appear small. As Edith Ann, she told stories about her life, her parents and her older sister. Each sketch ended with the line, “And that’s the truth.” Contributing to the humor was always the implication that it was perhaps the truth — perhaps not. But, in the comprehension of a 5-year-old girl, it was absolutely her truth.
If only we were able to laugh at the protestations of truth in today’s world! It is no laughing matter to have to bear the false witnesses of our country’s leaders. It tasks and exhausts our brains to be compelled to continually ferret out the germ of truth-telling from the deluge of equivocations, deflections, half-truth, and exaggerations — or to expose the out and out lies. And yes, we must deal with blatant lies. For example, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said there is no starvation in Gaza, contrary to all available evidence. Or, President Trump saying in his State of the Union speech, “Government answers to the people, not the powerful.”
Exaggeration was aplenty in the first 10 minutes of Trump’s speech. He said such things as the economy is “roaring like never before,” the nation is “bigger, better, richer and stronger than ever before,” the nation has “the strongest and most secure boarder in American history, by far,” “We’re winning too much. We can’t take it anymore.”
Exaggerations like these are efforts to mask the reality that the nation has flaws and many people are in need of food, education, health care and justice. In his speech he said DEI has ended. It has not ended, it has just gone underground, continuing the effort to recognize the diversity of our population, extend the commitment to equity among all people and include access to freedom and justice for all people.
Another technique in politics, for blurring truth-telling, is to offer forced choices. In his speech Trump said, “If you agree with this statement, then stand up and show your support: The first duty of the American government is to protect American citizens. Not illegal aliens.”
Being asked to choose between protecting American citizens or illegal aliens, sets up a quandary for any who would choose that the government offers not only protection for citizens but also protection for the rights of others who are seeking security or who are pleading for a just hearing of their situation. However, the President insists on only one way. To those who recognize and resist the offer of a forced choice, he scolds, “You should be ashamed of yourselves, not standing up.” A forced choice leads only to distorted truth-telling.
When will we ever learn that eroding truth-telling leads to the collapse of trust and the inability for people with a variety of opinions to come together to solve hard issues. Of course, there is always more to truth-telling than asserting a concrete fact. The understanding of the truth is inevitably incomplete. Therefore, any expression of absolutes is temporary until more information surfaces. Anyone who claims they have a corner on the truth is either misleading themselves, others or both.
The most diverse, inclusive community is needed to support truth-telling — not a president, not a cabal of leaders, not the most compulsive perceptions, not the most honorable of motives. Anything else is either deception or humor. The proof of truth-telling is not found in the words of Edith Ann, sitting in an oversized rocking chair, declaring, “And that’s the truth.” There is always more!
John Buttrick writes from his Vermont Folk Rocker in his Concord home, Minds
Crossing. He can be reached at johndbuttrick@gmail.com.