Deception -- Part 2

The Bush administration is constantly accused of "lying to the American people." It is not, however, the first administration to be accused of that. In fact, it is the fourth administration of the past seven where the accusation has really stuck. My list includes Nixon, Reagan, Clinton, and now George W.

The Ford, Carter, and first Bush administrations weren't widely believed to be dishonest. Then again, none of them were reelected, either...

The reason that the political opposition frequently uses this accusation against any administration is that it is the easiest charge to make. The four main reasons why that is true are as follows:

1. If ANYONE in the administration is EVER wrong about ANYTHING; then it is easy to accuse the whole monolithic "administration" of "lying to the American people."
2. If something is secret, and thus the administration cannot comment on it, then it is easy to say that the administration is hiding something--thus "lying to the American people."
3. If the truth in a situation is subtle, and it requires real thought and reason to understand it; then it is easy to point out the superficial evidence to the contrary of the truth, and thus accuse the adminstration of "lying to the American people."
4. Finally, the piece de la resistance is this: if top officials ever engage in obfuscation, misdirection, or outright deception such as with the Valerie Plame affair or the US Attorneys' firings; then it is EASY to accuse the administration of lying to the American people.

Reason number one cannot be completely eliminated, but it can be minimized by hiring only competent and intelligent people--and avoiding predicting the future whenever possible. It requires you, as the President, to hire based upon merit rather than upon "loyalty". It also requires you to provide leadership and discipline to your management team. It also sometimes requires you to fire people that you really care about when they don't learn or accept discipline.

Reason number two just goes with the territory, and it is the natural cousin to the fact that you are privy to secret information. Just live with it. You will sometimes have to keep a stiff upper lip when being called a liar. However, it is essential that you never claim this predicament as an excuse to not defend yourself against charges when it isn't the case.

Reason number three requires faith in the voters, and it requires your administration to educate and inform the electorate. To do so, your administration much reach out rather than retrenching into an adversarial relationship with the media.

Reason number four is totally and completely under your control. In fact, it is the only thing that is easily avoided. Unfortunately, administration officials usually adopt a bunker mentality over time--feeling like they are constantly under seige. Of course, they ARE constantly under seige, but the bunker mentality is chosen...but it doesn't have to be...