The Liberal Patriot

Moral Turpitude

J. G. Schwam - May 15, 2002

Moral turpitude may be an oxymoron. Morality and depravity sound

like opposites. Unless of course one attempts to use a moral stance

to attempt to justify a position or situation borne of a perverse

mind. Just as a parent will fail as a role model every time he or she

utters the phrase do as I say not as I do, so will the GOP, the

Conservatives or Christian right if they do the same.

They do however, every day.

Through the rise of big business's power over the legislative and

executive branches of the American political system the old phrase

"it's not personal it's just business" has reached it's apex. This is

not a new issue. We do not know much of the true moral caliber of

the great scions of business of the past. We do not know if John D.

Rockefeller, J.P. Morgan, Averill Harriman and others lied and

cheated their way to riches and power. We did not call them before

congress to answer for their actions. If we had, should we expect

that these assumed to be moral churchgoing men would be masters

of obfuscation and denial of any responsibility for their actions or

those of their organizations as has become the rule in business

today?

It started in the public arena with the tobacco hearings. Like

fascist soldiers in lock step one after another the chief executives

of six tobacco giants patently stated they did not believe nicotine

was addictive. Shortly there after their companies own documents

made them liars. During the Iran Contra hearings we heard George

H.W. Bush state with a canary-swallowing grin that he was out of

the loop. Now we have Thomas White, Ken Lay, Jeff Skilling and

others denying any knowledge, as the evidence mounts of vast

conspiracies of fraud and deception within the organizations they

headed.

Just as ignorance of the law involved is no defense in a criminal

proceeding, simply a lack of knowledge of corruption or fraud on

ones watch rings as hollow as an empty sock as a justification of

innocence in such cases. Nowhere else does this conduct hold up.

The captain of a corrupt police precinct takes the heat for what

happens on his watch. He has no choice, it is his responsibility. So

why then is it ok if "I was out of the loop" is acceptable in politics?

Somehow our supposed moral majority members in political positions

are content to look the other way, protect, shield and stay silent

on what is gradually becoming widespread accounting fraud and

deception in some of Americas largest companies. Once again are

we to say to our children it's ok to lie, steal, hide the truth as long

it's just business, while at the same time telling them not to lie

about doing their homework or stealing a dollar for candy? Are we

to teach them that if no one finds out about a crime, misdeed or lie

that it is neither? If this is how they operate in so called the moral

majority or Christian Right then these names are a lie. The Bible as

far as I know does not contain the passage it's ok to lie if... These

organizations are a political machination designed to blind the truly

moral majority from the true goals of a political agenda created to

use real honest Christian values behind a smoke and mirrors ploy

designed to seize power and wealth. This agenda and it's rise to

supremacy is fraught with disgusting lies, libelous and slanderous

half or no truths to discredit, ruin or intimidate those that seek to

expose their blatant failure at the theft of the supposed moral high

ground.

The purpose of the Fifth Amendment is to protect the innocent

from coercion and torture to elicit a false confession to a crime that

they did not commit. It is well and proper that one should not be

required to incriminate ones self before a body with prosecutorial

powers. Let us however leave the statement "I take the fifth" to

alleged racketeers and their ilk. Whatever happened to the words

our parents taught us? Fes' up and take your medicine. The whole

concept of the right to "get off" when accused of a crime for which

you know you are guilty of is a bastardization of the basic values

we were all presumably taught as children. What is unreasonable

about expecting those we are supposed to respect, our business

leaders, our religious leaders, our political leaders to consider and

act properly upon all matters with a considerationas to the

"rightness or wrongness" of their actions instead of working to

insure they have plausible deniability or that the paper trail does

not lead in their direction, but the profits do.

It is a shame that it seems necessary to even point out there is no

situation where lying, cheating and stealing is acceptable. If you

call yourself a moral person then there is simply no situation where

means that include any form of lying, cheating or stealing justifies

any end. If one does so and professes to hold any form of values as

part of your being then you are lying to yourself and your God

whatever you may call him or her.

If we apply this to ourselves we should expect no less of our

leaders. The current leaders of the GOP and their backers such as

the Heritage Foundation, The Federalist Society, The Sarah Scaife

Foundation, The Olin Foundation and others have created an entire

agenda, position and administration based on the assumption of

power by any means necessary. It is moral turpitude on a scale

that has not existed since the Grand Inquisitor Torquemada

accused entire races of being morally unfit. As Americans with a

conscience, we know right from wrong. If we believe there is a

moral conscience on the right side of the aisle, the boardrooms of

our corporations then we have been played for fools. And we allow

it by our silence and ignorance of the writing on the wall right

before our eyes. Yes indeed we are fools by our own naïve blind

belief in the political spin shoved down our throats every day.

But don't take my word for it just do as they say not as they do

and they will laugh at you too, just as they do in the face of the

morality profess to stand for.

Back to Liberal Patriot Main Page

J.G. Schwam is a contributing writer for Liberal Slant

2002-2001-2000-1999-1998

LIBERAL SLANT Web Publications.

liberalslant@entermail.net