The Congressional Hearings on Planned Parenthood are a clear example of some fundamental defects in the current state of our political process.
The Republicans who called this hearing have demonstrated a complete disinterest in actual fact gathering. It is a case of an end-justifies-the-means approach to governing that fits better in a dictatorship than a democracy.
During these hearings Rep. Jason Chaffetz showed a chart in order to make a point. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=4&v=iGlLLzw5_KM)
The problem is that he did not understand what the chart was saying. It is not that he did not understand the source for the chart.
Chaffetz claimed the source was Planned Parenthood itself.
The true source for the chart was Americans United for Life, an antiabortion group. Considering the source there should be little surprise that it would be structured to mislead and distort.
Had the chart been constructed to show data accurately there would be no cause to criticize Planned Parenthood at all.
It is not that Rep. Chaffetz is not good at reading a chart that is the problem.
It is the issue of ignoring facts in the interest of getting what you want. Carly Fiorina is worse on this count.
Her claims to have seen things in the videos from the discredited The Center for Medical Progress have been debunked by several fact checking authorities. Her insistence on repeating her unfounded claim that the videos show living babies demonstrates that truth is less important to her than victory.
Together such egregious actions demonstrate an unfitness for any form of public service.
The only reason we have elected officials in Congress is to have them make decisions on our behalf that reflect our needs tempered with the reality of the circumstances under which we live. We need them to make decisions that are honest and accurate. When they demonstrate their inability to be honest and accurate, we need to take notice and take action.
These last 20 years or so the abortion issue has been a litmus test for conservative politicians.
Many conservatives have decided upon a candidate solely based on this one issue. But this issue is also a litmus test for the integrity of these politicians. It is one thing to have a belief and to back it up with facts. It is another to pursue forcing your views on others when there is no factual basis to justify it.
Were such defective reasoning restricted to a single issue, then the damage that could be caused would be restricted.
The ultimate difficulty is that such reasoning is used in one area it encompasses the entirety of how that person reasons.
As state after state has cleared Planned Parenthood of any wrongdoing, the circus that is this Congressional Hearing has proceeded along completely ignoring the clear evidence.
What is most clear is that Congress Republicans have decided truth is irrelevant, that they are above any reason or restraint when it comes to getting what they want.
Politics should never devolve into a scorched earth battle. No opinion or desire should ever be allowed to supersede truth.
When a politician dispenses with “Thou Shalt Not Lie” for the sake of a personal agenda of power, that is bad for all their constituents and the nation as a whole.
Peter Makus
Dix Hills
