IF WE LET “THE BIG LIE” INFLUENCE AN ELECTION, SHAME ON US
Woldow.com Exclusive, November 4, 2003

I was wrong. I admit it. And Richland residents sure let me know. Two weeks ago, I wrote that I couldn’t find any election controversy in the township. It turns out I was just looking in the wrong places.

I looked in the newspapers. I looked in public meetings. I assumed that the two sides battling for the supervisor’s seat were waging their campaigns for the hearts and minds of the voters out in the open, where the rhetoric was there for all to see and hear. But I was wrong. The Big Lie was being told behind closed doors, in homes all around the township. Where campaigners could tailor their deceptive messages to the neighborhood, or the resident. Scare, deceive, mislead. All in private. And what originally appeared to be no story at all has been revealed as a sordid little blot on Richland’s already well-stained election history.

This is a tale of dirty politics, but the villains are only half the problem. Yes, they told lies. Yes, they practiced deceptions. And yes, it probably happens to some extent in every election in every town and township in America. But it happens because we let it happen. P.T. Barnum must have sported a campaign button and yard sign when he chuckled his famous line “There’s a sucker born every minute”. At election time, we truly are a nation of sheep, waiting to be sheared. Baaaaaa.

If a stranger came to your door trying to sell you something, you probably wouldn’t let him in. If someone walked up one day, asking for a few minutes of your time to fill you in on their version of local gossip and dirt, you probably would have better things to do. But around election time, many of us seem to suspend reality, and allow those doorknockers to enter our homes, and our minds, with unproven, outlandish claims. And we believe them! Perhaps you are one of the many people who heard those stories during the past few weeks. They went something like this (the names have been changed to protect the guilty)....

“Good afternoon, Mr. Gullible. My name is Mud Slinger, and I’m here to warn you, and your neighbors, about what the board of supervisors is about to do to your homes. Did you know that they are building a $6 million trail system - that’s $6 million of your tax dollars - which will connect your neighborhood with Quakertown? A trail system which will allow ‘that element’ of people, who you tried to escape by moving to Richland, to walk right to your home and vandalize and steal. And the supervisors are planning to create this trail system by condemning your land, and your neighbor’s land, and taking it from you.

“It just so happens that I represent Nick X, the Purple Party candidate for supervisor. Vote for Nick, and he will make sure that your land isn’t condemned, your tax money isn’t wasted, and ‘that element’ of people can’t threaten you. And, by the way, did you know that two of the supervisors are secretly on the take from a developer? And the board is selling the township to whoever can pay? Vote for Nick X...he’ll make sure things are honest around here.”

Sounds ridiculous, doesn’t it? No sane person would just accept all of that bullcrunch at face value from a person who is pitching a political candidate. Or from the candidate himself. Doesn’t everyone know that some stories told this time of year might, just might, contain a wee bit of distortion? Apparently not. The story described above was really told. Told to many, many people, particularly those who live along the township’s proposed trail system. A system that in reality will cost taxpayers slightly more than $1 million over 10 years, not $6 million. A system that will not involve ANY unwanted condemnation, and will allow everyone to enjoy Richland’s open spaces.

And as for the threats of “that element” coming from Quakertown, any right-thinking person should be outraged by the insinuation. So, fellow Richlanders, how did YOU react when that smiling person knocked on your door, and told you election fables? Did you stop and think “Hmmm, maybe I should check this out before I believe it”? Or did you merely go “Baaaaaaa” like good little sheep, and vote for The Big Lie?

After talking to people around the township prior to the election, Richland seems like a great place to start a ranch. Raise sheep. After all, there are so many of them running around here already. Like the middle-age man who had a campaign sign in his yard. He told me that he was voting against the incumbent because the supervisors had issued 30 waivers in the past year, a sell-out to developers.

I asked if he knew the meaning of a waiver. He (very incorrectly) said that it allowed the developer to build whatever he wanted. Yikes, are we all so uninformed? Did he know what ANY of the waivers were issued for? Could he name a single person who had received such a waiver? Did he actually know of a single case where one was issued? Without hesitation he answered no to all three questions, but explained that he firmly believed they were improper, because one of the candidates told him so. Baaaaaa.

Sounds silly when you read it, and I’m sure you are saying “I’d never blindly believe a candidate without checking the story”. But most of us don’t take the time. We seem willing to believe the worst about people, particularly people in government. So rather than voting for the one with the best record, we vote for the one with the best story. And the candidates who stick to the truth are at a huge disadvantage. Perhaps we just don’t think that ANY candidate will tell the truth. Shame on us. Whenever The Big Lie wins, the people lose.