"If absolute power corrupts absolutely, does corruption steadily increase with power? Empirical evidence suggests that it frequently does."

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When Will Politicians Stop Bearing False Witness?
By Randy Alcorn, March 1, 2015

Most religions list lying as one of the cardinal sins, and rightfully so. Lying attempts to defeat truth. It promotes false information that in turn induces erroneous decisions, misguided policies and perverted justice.

Phony information fosters false beliefs that hinder human progress and obstruct effective solutions to problems. Truth, no matter how uncomfortable or inconvenient, is moral, lying is not.

While it is unlikely that any of us will depart this life without having lied, we would like the folks we elect to leadership positions to be, if not paragons of morality, at least ethically well above par.

We would like leaders to be honest, but too often those who aspire to positions of power succumb to greed and vanity and slip into unethical behavior.

The descent into unethical behavior can be insidious. When politicians are persuaded that their election is indispensable for the greater good, especially when convinced that their opponents are detrimental to that greater good, they can expediently excuse themselves for any pragmatic unethical means employed to attain the greater moral end.

And, when considering why politicians behave unethically to win elections, the personal benefits of elected office cannot be ignored. The pay and benefits can be very good. The annual base pay of members of Congress is $174,000, and about half of former lawmakers go on to become well-paid lobbyists.

There are also the elements of celebrity and status concomitant with being a public figure — especially one with genuine power. Once elected, it can be hard for some folks to relinquish the allures of elected office.

Some or all of this may explain the behavior of Rep. Lois Capps, D-Santa Barbara, who repeatedly has broken her initial campaign pledge to limit her stay in Congress to a few terms.

She has now apparently completed the journey to the dark side by engaging in deliberate distortion and deception in her campaign to win re-election to what is now her ninth term.

Capps’ re-election campaign ran radio and TV ads that edited audio and video of a two-sentence statement made by her Republican opponent, Chris Mitchum. By deleting the end of the first sentence and the entire second sentence, Mitchum’s statement was completely altered and falsified, in effect portraying Mitchum as a candidate who was not really interested in representing the citizens of the 24th Congressional District. It left the impression that he had some ulterior reason for wanting the office.

All of these misleading ads included the required endorsement by the candidate running them: “I’m Lois Capps, and I approve this message.” Since winning last November’s closely contested race, Capps has said she is proud of the campaign she ran.

But, should voters be proud of her? Why was it so important for her to win re-election that she could justify engaging in such shameful campaign tactics? Were her constituents in severe danger if she were not re-elected? Has she become so accustomed to the status and benefits of high office that she is desperate to keep them?

In what is most likely a Quixotic quest, Mitchum has filed a lawsuit against Capps and others that contends Capps’ campaign ads were so egregiously misleading as to be tantamount to defamation of character.

Whether or not you agree with Mitchum’s politics, he — and every candidate for office — deserves to win or lose an election based on truths, not on lies.

More important, a great disservice is done to the voters whenever candidates engage in deception and dishonesty. Not only does it cloud clear, well-informed election decisions, it can also put unethical candidates into office.

If absolute power corrupts absolutely, does corruption steadily increase with power? Empirical evidence suggests that it frequently does.

If Capps — proclaimed by the Washingtonian magazine as the “Nicest Member of Congress” — can behave badly in her quest for power, how badly are the less nice members of Congress capable of behaving? How many elected officials really deserve the title “Honorable” before their names? Does the congresswoman from the 24th District deserve that title?

The election process must be honest. Campaign dishonesty isn’t just political high-jinks that we should grudgingly accept as unavoidable. Fraudulent campaigns and dishonest candidates eventually corrode government and debase democracy. And, haven’t they?

The campaign process must be disinfected. Maybe it is not enough to require candidates for public office to identify themselves and approve each of their campaign ads. Maybe they should swear under penalty of perjury that their campaign statements and advertising are true — not fabrications, gross exaggerations or deceptive omissions.

Half-truths are, after all, half-lies. Offending candidates would be guilty of perjury and disqualified from office even if they had won the election.
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