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In reply to the discussion: Why Hasn't The American Left Convinced More Americans To Vote For More Progressive Candidates? [View all]Occulus
(20,599 posts)Why can't we set up a continuous stream of one-term progressives, all of whom share a commitment to progressive causes, and are willing to continue the agenda and intents of their predecessors? Why does American politics need to be a career?
They- Republicans- lie to get elected all the time. They do it because it works: a lie can travel 'round the world while the truth is putting on its pants. In keeping with that, there is no sin in lying to defeat evil people; in that context, outright lying is a virtue, and telling truths you know will get you defeated only helps your political enemies. It's slimy, smarmy, and a disgusting perversion of the concepts of civil service and patriotism, but it's also the reality of the way the system works. We need to acknowledge and deal with what is real, and stop trying to act as if the world is as it should be.
There is a time and a place for telling the truth. American political races have no such time and place. We keep losing in these areas of the country because we have failed to learn that lesson. The Republicans win because they lie to the public about their intentions and lie about the facts and lie about their lies and are absolutely vicious about it; if they ever actually told these people the truth, the voters would not vote for them, full stop.
We need to be just as vicious. We need to be the real-life Frank Underwood from House of Cards. We need to start lying, or we will continue to lose.