Transparency is impossible

Reader comment on: Quote of the Day

Submitted by HeidiN (United States), Mar 26, 2012 18:33

Though troublesome, this doesn't seem like news. They all seem to do it. With Mr. Obama, it's termed deceptive. With Mr. Romney, the term is flip-flop.

From Michael Tomasky: "Commentators have spent countless hours speculating whether Romney is "really" moderate or conservative. The answer is that he is neither, and both. The lessons he learned from watching his father fail to make it to the White House are: don't stick to your guns; be flexible; suit the needs of the moment." (January review of two Romney biographies in the NYTimes Review of Books)

As a voter, I wish it was possible to see whom we'd really be getting. But it doesn't seem that anybody who shows us who s/he really is has a chance of winning.

I'm not sure why this is, but I worry it's because we've become a nation of sound-byters, reactionaries, of voters who can't stomach ambiguity or nuance or situational choices. Of voters who've lost the ability to think for themselves, and so must be marketed with hype and falsehood. Maybe such a dubious practice says more about the voters than the candidates.

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