Lipstick on a Pig

In a perfect world, there is only truth, no lies. Is there any one among us who has not at least thought that and perhaps even wished for it? One big challenge to making that happen, of course, is getting people to agree on what is truth. It is not necessarily that we "can't handle the truth," so much as that we, as a collective people, have trouble recognizing it. Everyone has their own perspective, bias, and way of looking at what is communicated to them. Most times, it is not as if people are being dishonest or wrong in how they view things. Mainly, it is just that their "take" on things is different. Untruth or dishonesty comes into play only when people approach something with a specific purpose of deceiving or misleading.

A recent example of this is the old adage, "lipstick on a pig." That phrase has been around as long as rock candy and naps on a Sunday afternoon. In our current presidential election, the Republicans are claiming democratic candidate Barrack Obama was referring to Sarah Palin, the republican's vice presidential candidate, as a pig in a speech he gave recently on the Republican Party's various policies. Do they really think that a presidential candidate would call an opponent a pig? (Please know I mean no disrespect to pigs.) I think not. But to hear some of the Republican spokespeople talk, they are convinced that is exactly what Obama did. One only has to take a few moments to play back this part of Obama's speech to judge for themselves.

Are these spokespeople being truthful or are they trying to deceive? With less than two months left in the 2008 presidential campaign, is this really what we the American public need to be contemplating? Is a debate on "lipstick on a pig" really the one we want to be having as we approach election day? Again, I think not. Yet this seems to be the debate that is being thrust upon us whether we want it or not. Deception is no stranger to communication, but neither is honesty. People make talk at us with deception in their hearts, but that should not prevent us from listening with honest ears and recognize the whole of what is being said.