[BRussell]

I know it's conventional wisdom that all politicians are big liars. I don't think so - I have another theory.

There's a concept called "cognitive dissonance" that says that when people experience dissonance, as they would if they lied, they don't live with it, but instead engage in "dissonance reduction." They rationalize it. The point is that people don't walk around thinking they're liars or bad people. They convince themselves in one way or another that they're really good people, or that they're not really lying.

I think this is what politicians do. It's really hard for me to believe that politicians cynically lie, knowing exactly what they're doing but not caring.

Does Hillary really pretend to be moderate when in reality she goes home after one of those speeches and says "I fooled them and now they won't ever know I'm a radical leftist mwuaahaha!"

Does Bush really pretend to be religious and anti-gay in a cynical attempt to get votes, as some have suggested?

Even Clinton's Monica lie - did he convince himself it was the truth because he didn't consider blow jobs "sexual relations?" I think he probably did. I don't think people, even politicians, go around telling lies like that. I think they convince themselves, perhaps sometimes in a preposterously contrived way, that they're really telling the truth.

Am I just naive?

[zigzag]

Originally posted by BRussell:
I know it's conventional wisdom that all politicians are big liars. I don't think so - I have another theory.

There's a concept called "cognitive dissonance" that says that when people experience dissonance, as they would if they lied, they don't live with it, but instead engage in "dissonance reduction." They rationalize it. The point is that people don't walk around thinking they're liars or bad people. They convince themselves in one way or another that they're really good people, or that they're not really lying.

I think this is what politicians do. It's really hard for me to believe that politicians cynically lie, knowing exactly what they're doing but not caring.

Does Hillary really pretend to be moderate when in reality she goes home after one of those speeches and says "I fooled them and now they won't ever know I'm a radical leftist mwuaahaha!"

Does Bush really pretend to be religious and anti-gay in a cynical attempt to get votes, as some have suggested?

Even Clinton's Monica lie - did he convince himself it was the truth because he didn't consider blow jobs "sexual relations?" I think he probably did. I don't think people, even politicians, go around telling lies like that. I think they convince themselves, perhaps sometimes in a preposterously contrived way, that they're really telling the truth.

Am I just naive?

A good question, but I think you're giving them a little too much credit. When Bush claimed in 2000 that he had supported a Texas Patient's Bill of Rights, could any serious person think he didn't know better? He wasn't just rationalizing - by any norm outside of politics, he was lying. When Al Gore claimed he didn't know he was at a fundraiser, he was lying. He might have reached a point, like Clinton, where the lie had become a reality, but it's still a lie. I think Clinton had an arguable semantic point, which might qualify as a rationalization, but coming from a middle-aged man, it was difficult to take seriously.

I think it's a matter of degree. There are honest mistakes, rationalizations, spins, fibs, lies, and all points in-between. And we all do it. But it's easier to call someone a liar than a "dissonance reducer." And I do think that on many occasions, they knowingly lie. They're just very good at leaving themselves an out.