Your Public Square Disclosing what is True, what is Real
How can we have honest government if public officials are not honest?
Publisher's Note: This article originally appeared in the Beaufort Observer.
Lying is a tough subject for most of us to talk about. The absolute, unvarnished truth can cause a lot of trouble. All of us are guilty, at times, of not telling the whole truth. A lot of people are guilty of lying. I say guilty because one of the Ten Commandments says "Thou shall not lie." This is an absolute commandment without exceptions. We do not have to delve into all those philosophers' writings searching for the truth and spend volumes defining lying. Let us define lying as used in this article. After all, the lying scale goes all the way from pure white to jet black.
I am talking about the black end of the lying scale. Simply put, lying is speaking or writing a false statement that is for the purpose of benefiting either the liar or some entity he is associated with, or in some way even worse—to hurt another. Examples of the white end of the scale are those things we do or say, or for that matter do not do or say, that benefit the feelings of others or at least that do no harm.
Most people are not willing to confront or address lies. This is not what genteel people do. Doing so could get you labeled as radical, pushy, or embarrassing, etc. No one should confront lying without carefully thinking through how their associates and the public will judge them.
Lying is becoming more and more acceptable in our society. We've come a long way from the cherry tree with George Washington to the Benghazi video lie. "If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor." This is another indicator of our abandonment of Christian teachings. I am frequently told that politicians regularly lie and are expected to lie. I do not subscribe to this line of thinking. I am reminded of the saying: "A liar is a thief, he steals the truth. A thief will steal anything, even a life. A person who will steal a life is a murder."
Good decisions cannot be made in business or government unless truthful information is available. Government and business decisions built on lies are seldom successful in the long run.
Several huge national disasters have been built on lies. The Gulf of Tonkin attacks that got us into the Vietnamese War were lies. It would have been just as easy for President Johnson to have said "In my opinion we have serious national interests at stake in Asia and therefore I am committing additional troops". He, then would have had to deal with Congress. He wanted immediate approval and look at the consequences of that lie. George Bush did the same thing with the Iraq war. Bush had plenty of options but he wanted the decision now, the lie was told. Barack Obama promised hope and change. Trusting souls that we are, Obama never bothered to tell us he was talking about socialism. Governments and politicians lie when the truth will not get leaders what they want.
I came face to face with abusive lying during the approximately five minutes I sat in the Chocowinity Town Board public hearing on rezoning the county industrial site. Some local politicians want to build a jail as soon as possible. Commissioner William Albritton was rambling on, trying to cleanse his soul of the bad judgement he had made in voting to make Chocowinity into a jail town that handles prison sewage. He first told us he had never been in the Beaufort County jail. He then made the statement to the effect that plastic sheeting had to be hung over electrical gear during rain storms to protect it from water damage. I shook my head that this was not true. William Albritton then embellished this lie by calling on Sheriff Jordan and the five or six deputies who accompanied him to the meeting by asking them whether or not his statement was true or not. They as a group acknowledged that he was telling the truth. I then announced that someone, either them or me was lying. I left the meeting because I knew I would be disruptive if I had to hear more of this behavior.
On Friday June 6, 2014 I and Stan Deatherage met with the County Manager and Engineer. After discussing repair work orders it was determined there was no truth to these statements made by Albritton, Sheriff Jordan and his deputies. The only time plastic sheeting had been used in the Sheriff's Department was during Hurricane Irene, not in the jail, but in the Sheriff's main office building. Repairs for that event have long since been completed, making this an irrelevant issue now.
Just as Presidents Bush and Johnson called on others to verify their lies, Albritton called on the Sheriff and his deputies to verify his story. We should all be concerned about law enforcement when it does not tell the truth. In his distortions, Albritton said: "I'm even told they can build the complex without a tax increase." Now whether or not Mr. Albritton was given incorrect information or if he is fabricating a falsehood, it goes without saying that any public official knows that you can't spend 20-30 million dollars and increase the size of the staff operating a jail and do it without raising taxes. Smoke and mirrors is lying just as much as any other form of lying. Mr. Albritton demonstrates the corruption of truth that is so rampant in government today: "Say whatever you need to say if it serves your purpose." And then feel no compunction to document or substantiate what you say.
Several other astounding statements, as reported in a local newspaper, were made. Mayor Jimmy Mobley said the consultants studying the site for Duke Energy stated the presence of a jail in the industrial park would "Absolutely not" have an adverse impact on the future of the industrial park. To date, Mobley has not produced the names of the persons who made this statement. I predict this industrial park will not be one of the four selected by Duke Energy for their fast track program because of the presence of the jail.
Mobley went on to say he and Town Commissioner William Albritton had visited the Edgecombe County Jail. Their jail is built seven miles from the court house. Mobley stated "Both businesses and residents felt safer because the law was there." Again Mobley has not produced any names of the businesses and residents who made these statements.
Mayor Mobley made another statement that defies reason. Mobley believes the jail is a way for Chocowinity to fast track development. In so far as development and new jobs are concerned, the jail is a big negative. It uses up space that could be used for industrial sites. Most companies are not going to build plants beside jails. The jail uses water, sewer and electrical capacity that could be used by tax paying industry. Jails pay no taxes, but remove the land from the tax rolls. Another clear miss by Mayor Mobley.
Mobley then proceeds to make another astounding untruthful statement. He asserts the county asked Chocowinity to be the site for the new jail because Beaufort County does not have the staff to service sewage. Mayor Mobley, a new jail located in the City of Washington does not require any dedicated staff to provide sewage services. The City of Washington provides those services. This is another statement designed to mislead the public.
Mobley provides even more wrong information. He states the new jail is bringing infrastructure to the industrial park. Wrong again Mayor Mobley. The jail is using sewer capacity, water capacity, and electrical capacity that industry could use. There will be no additional infrastructure to accommodate the jail. The jail would be a user of existing infrastructure capacity. In using this capacity it denies future jobs.
Mobley then proves how bad his judgment is by making the statement: "Never, ever, will the Town of Chocowinity, myself or any of the (town) commissioners, do anything to harm the people on the south side of the river. We're doing what we can to keep taxes down in Beaufort County". This is an incredibly inaccurate statement. The truth is that the Chocowinity Town Board could have put a stop to this nonsense by simply denying the rezoning request. They chose not to do so. They now own the tax increase to put the jail there and operate it. He tries to claim he is a white knight but by supports more than a 20 million dollar jail that is not needed and increasing taxes by 15 percent. Looks like common sense and integrity does not exist in Chocowinity government.
Serious ethical and perhaps legal issues were raised when Sheriff Jordan, an elected official, uses the taxpayers' money by taking five or six employees in uniform, paid by Beaufort County, to the Chocowinity public hearing to lobby for the new jail. The public should be even more concerned when law enforcement officers are willing to swear to untruths uttered by people who admit they have never witnessed the inside of the jail. Sheriff Jordan has never allowed the truth or facts to get in the way of his wants.
But here's the real problem. Dishonesty in government, by government officials, has become so common place that most of the public just shrugs and brushes things like what we've described above aside. In doing so they empower dishonest public officials to lie even more. Too many of the public have simply come to accept lying as "par for the course" in the way government operates. Too many of us have become so jaded we don't resist the dishonesty and we thereby encourage it. It grows and becomes worse and we become even more disgusted and jaded.
We have just witnessed the same sort of thing in the recent election campaign. We saw candidates say things they knew were not true simply to try to get votes. "Say whatever you need to say..." has become the standard with far too many politicians these days.
None of us is perfect. I, like anyone else, make mistakes and even get some facts wrong once in a while. But I can honestly say I do not ever do so knowing that it is dishonest. And I am always ready to debate anyone by documenting and substantiating the information I base my statements on.
Honorable people may disagree on opinion matters. But honorable people cannot deliberately disseminate false information. It is time the public stepped up to the plate and held dishonorable politicians accountable for telling the truth and being able to support their statements. There will be an election on November 4. That is a good time to begin to bring honest government back.
Go Back
Lying is a tough subject for most of us to talk about. The absolute, unvarnished truth can cause a lot of trouble. All of us are guilty, at times, of not telling the whole truth. A lot of people are guilty of lying. I say guilty because one of the Ten Commandments says "Thou shall not lie." This is an absolute commandment without exceptions. We do not have to delve into all those philosophers' writings searching for the truth and spend volumes defining lying. Let us define lying as used in this article. After all, the lying scale goes all the way from pure white to jet black.
I am talking about the black end of the lying scale. Simply put, lying is speaking or writing a false statement that is for the purpose of benefiting either the liar or some entity he is associated with, or in some way even worse—to hurt another. Examples of the white end of the scale are those things we do or say, or for that matter do not do or say, that benefit the feelings of others or at least that do no harm.
Most people are not willing to confront or address lies. This is not what genteel people do. Doing so could get you labeled as radical, pushy, or embarrassing, etc. No one should confront lying without carefully thinking through how their associates and the public will judge them.
Lying is becoming more and more acceptable in our society. We've come a long way from the cherry tree with George Washington to the Benghazi video lie. "If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor." This is another indicator of our abandonment of Christian teachings. I am frequently told that politicians regularly lie and are expected to lie. I do not subscribe to this line of thinking. I am reminded of the saying: "A liar is a thief, he steals the truth. A thief will steal anything, even a life. A person who will steal a life is a murder."
Good decisions cannot be made in business or government unless truthful information is available. Government and business decisions built on lies are seldom successful in the long run.
Several huge national disasters have been built on lies. The Gulf of Tonkin attacks that got us into the Vietnamese War were lies. It would have been just as easy for President Johnson to have said "In my opinion we have serious national interests at stake in Asia and therefore I am committing additional troops". He, then would have had to deal with Congress. He wanted immediate approval and look at the consequences of that lie. George Bush did the same thing with the Iraq war. Bush had plenty of options but he wanted the decision now, the lie was told. Barack Obama promised hope and change. Trusting souls that we are, Obama never bothered to tell us he was talking about socialism. Governments and politicians lie when the truth will not get leaders what they want.
I came face to face with abusive lying during the approximately five minutes I sat in the Chocowinity Town Board public hearing on rezoning the county industrial site. Some local politicians want to build a jail as soon as possible. Commissioner William Albritton was rambling on, trying to cleanse his soul of the bad judgement he had made in voting to make Chocowinity into a jail town that handles prison sewage. He first told us he had never been in the Beaufort County jail. He then made the statement to the effect that plastic sheeting had to be hung over electrical gear during rain storms to protect it from water damage. I shook my head that this was not true. William Albritton then embellished this lie by calling on Sheriff Jordan and the five or six deputies who accompanied him to the meeting by asking them whether or not his statement was true or not. They as a group acknowledged that he was telling the truth. I then announced that someone, either them or me was lying. I left the meeting because I knew I would be disruptive if I had to hear more of this behavior.
On Friday June 6, 2014 I and Stan Deatherage met with the County Manager and Engineer. After discussing repair work orders it was determined there was no truth to these statements made by Albritton, Sheriff Jordan and his deputies. The only time plastic sheeting had been used in the Sheriff's Department was during Hurricane Irene, not in the jail, but in the Sheriff's main office building. Repairs for that event have long since been completed, making this an irrelevant issue now.
Just as Presidents Bush and Johnson called on others to verify their lies, Albritton called on the Sheriff and his deputies to verify his story. We should all be concerned about law enforcement when it does not tell the truth. In his distortions, Albritton said: "I'm even told they can build the complex without a tax increase." Now whether or not Mr. Albritton was given incorrect information or if he is fabricating a falsehood, it goes without saying that any public official knows that you can't spend 20-30 million dollars and increase the size of the staff operating a jail and do it without raising taxes. Smoke and mirrors is lying just as much as any other form of lying. Mr. Albritton demonstrates the corruption of truth that is so rampant in government today: "Say whatever you need to say if it serves your purpose." And then feel no compunction to document or substantiate what you say.
Several other astounding statements, as reported in a local newspaper, were made. Mayor Jimmy Mobley said the consultants studying the site for Duke Energy stated the presence of a jail in the industrial park would "Absolutely not" have an adverse impact on the future of the industrial park. To date, Mobley has not produced the names of the persons who made this statement. I predict this industrial park will not be one of the four selected by Duke Energy for their fast track program because of the presence of the jail.
Mobley went on to say he and Town Commissioner William Albritton had visited the Edgecombe County Jail. Their jail is built seven miles from the court house. Mobley stated "Both businesses and residents felt safer because the law was there." Again Mobley has not produced any names of the businesses and residents who made these statements.
Mayor Mobley made another statement that defies reason. Mobley believes the jail is a way for Chocowinity to fast track development. In so far as development and new jobs are concerned, the jail is a big negative. It uses up space that could be used for industrial sites. Most companies are not going to build plants beside jails. The jail uses water, sewer and electrical capacity that could be used by tax paying industry. Jails pay no taxes, but remove the land from the tax rolls. Another clear miss by Mayor Mobley.
Mobley then proceeds to make another astounding untruthful statement. He asserts the county asked Chocowinity to be the site for the new jail because Beaufort County does not have the staff to service sewage. Mayor Mobley, a new jail located in the City of Washington does not require any dedicated staff to provide sewage services. The City of Washington provides those services. This is another statement designed to mislead the public.
Mobley provides even more wrong information. He states the new jail is bringing infrastructure to the industrial park. Wrong again Mayor Mobley. The jail is using sewer capacity, water capacity, and electrical capacity that industry could use. There will be no additional infrastructure to accommodate the jail. The jail would be a user of existing infrastructure capacity. In using this capacity it denies future jobs.
Mobley then proves how bad his judgment is by making the statement: "Never, ever, will the Town of Chocowinity, myself or any of the (town) commissioners, do anything to harm the people on the south side of the river. We're doing what we can to keep taxes down in Beaufort County". This is an incredibly inaccurate statement. The truth is that the Chocowinity Town Board could have put a stop to this nonsense by simply denying the rezoning request. They chose not to do so. They now own the tax increase to put the jail there and operate it. He tries to claim he is a white knight but by supports more than a 20 million dollar jail that is not needed and increasing taxes by 15 percent. Looks like common sense and integrity does not exist in Chocowinity government.
Serious ethical and perhaps legal issues were raised when Sheriff Jordan, an elected official, uses the taxpayers' money by taking five or six employees in uniform, paid by Beaufort County, to the Chocowinity public hearing to lobby for the new jail. The public should be even more concerned when law enforcement officers are willing to swear to untruths uttered by people who admit they have never witnessed the inside of the jail. Sheriff Jordan has never allowed the truth or facts to get in the way of his wants.
But here's the real problem. Dishonesty in government, by government officials, has become so common place that most of the public just shrugs and brushes things like what we've described above aside. In doing so they empower dishonest public officials to lie even more. Too many of the public have simply come to accept lying as "par for the course" in the way government operates. Too many of us have become so jaded we don't resist the dishonesty and we thereby encourage it. It grows and becomes worse and we become even more disgusted and jaded.
We have just witnessed the same sort of thing in the recent election campaign. We saw candidates say things they knew were not true simply to try to get votes. "Say whatever you need to say..." has become the standard with far too many politicians these days.
None of us is perfect. I, like anyone else, make mistakes and even get some facts wrong once in a while. But I can honestly say I do not ever do so knowing that it is dishonest. And I am always ready to debate anyone by documenting and substantiating the information I base my statements on.
Honorable people may disagree on opinion matters. But honorable people cannot deliberately disseminate false information. It is time the public stepped up to the plate and held dishonorable politicians accountable for telling the truth and being able to support their statements. There will be an election on November 4. That is a good time to begin to bring honest government back.
| Fontova Documents Media’s Crush on Fidel Castro | The Hood Territory, Editorials, Op-Ed & Politics | VA-07: Damn. What was that? An earthquake? |
Home
Contact
About
Service Rates
Privacy Policy
Follow on Facebook
Subscribe to Newsletters
Rss Feed
Keywords
Eastern NC Now & ENC NOW © Copyright 1998-2024 All Rights Reserved.
