Making a case for who to 'believe' and 'trust'

   If you are feeling a bit disenfranchised with this year's politics so far, you are probably not alone. Many that I talk with have become discouraged and fed up,  not only with the behavior of some of the people in  office, but the media as well. There was a time in history when  the political process was a time when people would get excited and energized, wave banners and straw hats, and when a good healthy discussion fostered challenging  debates and dialogue. Now it just seems to be constant bickering and arguing.

   There was a time when you would listen to those we elected as representatives and  'believed' what they were saying and 'trusted' that it was the truth. Those days may long be gone and in part, we have no one to blame but ourselves. We want to know “all the dirt.”

   The words 'trust' and 'believe' often get used interchangeably. Trust can be  defined as a confidence in the honesty and reliability of another person. Belief is defined as accepting something to be true such as someone's words or actions.

   As you listen to the elected officials speak about themselves and each other, who do you believe? Who should you believe? ( Yes Governor Le Page..do you really lie to the press?) Have we lost sight of a foundations of the core principles of personal honesty and integrity making it difficult to decide? Why have we become a society skeptical of a man or woman's word. Perhaps it is because too often actions have spoken louder than words. There is an old expression that begins...do as I say and not ...as I.did!

   One of the factors that may seem to move us farther and farther from the truth is the result of the huge amounts of money that are spent by the political parties. It may be the new 'golden rule'. “He who has the gold... rules.” Unfortunately, there are some good people, many who are folks just like you and me, who would be excellent people to lead but lack the financial resources to 'get into the race'.

   The media now plays a much bigger (huge) role in the political process as it seeks 'to vet'  people of past indiscretions and actions.  Any person naive  enough to think some past acts or action can remain hidden and still decides to run for elected office needs to find a 'bridge for sale'...... somewhere. Perhaps that bridge should be the bride to nowhere. Good people sometime do crazy things. We all make mistakes and wish there were some things we could do over. “Fess up” and move forward. Learn from  mistakes.

   It may be those people, honest right from the beginning, we can  come to “believe and trust” and those will get my support. We all make mistakes!