DREDGING THE PAST

SATURDAY, MAY 3, 2014

WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES IT MAKE

Once again the subject of Benghazi rears its ugly head.  The queen of the Democratic Party made the phrase “what difference does it make?” part of the standard discourse.  Most of the little people, including me, still have unanswered questions.

Anytime the facts of a circumstance are manipulated to change perception to create a false belief, most of us in our daily lives would say, we have been lied to.  Generally, I will refuse to use the words all, anytime or always because they are so absolute and very seldom lead us to the truth. Truth is and should be an absolute.  In the case of Benghazi, the truth of that circumstance has never been accounted for. 

The answer to the question “what difference at this point does it make” requires an answer.  If I were asked this question I would have this answer:  it matters because I don’t like being lied to; I expect honesty from my government; we cannot correct a problem if we are told there is no problem; because of the timing, we as a country may have elected people because of false confidence.  Our country’s standing in the world community is lessened because it is evident that democracy can be easily manipulated by propaganda; most importantly it diminishes the faith and belief that our country stands for what is good in humanity.

Something for us to think about might be how would we react in our personal lives if our friends, spouses, parents, or children manipulated  information constantly to lead us to believe nonexistent facts.  What if they did this to make us perceive them as someone they aren’t?  What do we think about people who sell us products using false claims regarding what those products are or what they can do for us?  How long could we put up with those people being in our lives?

I think most of us are smart enough to know why the facts surrounding Benghazi might have been manipulated.  Why the cause of that heinous act would have looked better if it were caused by a random group of people acting in response to an insult of their religion.  How would it have looked if an incumbent administration looked incompetent just prior to their request to be re-elected?  How would it have looked if a decimated enemy were able to pull off yet another attack on American soil?  We might ask how it looks almost two years later when no one has been held accountable for perpetrating that attack, or for the lack of preparedness, or for the lack of importance placed on the value we call truthfulness.