Truth too often getting lost in shades of gray

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  • Kurt Johnson
    Kurt Johnson
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Is it the truth?
That’s a pretty simple question, and an important one, though shades of gray seem to be blurring the line these days between fact, fiction, embellishment and outright lies.
A couple of high-profile examples of the truth getting lost in the shuffle have grabbed my attention recently, boggling the mind how far some people will go to get ahead in this world.
We probably wouldn’t believe or care to know all the half-truths and broken promises made on the campaign trail over the years, but George Santos has the dubious honor of working his way to Washington on a campaign of virtual deceit. The newly-elected New York Congressman admitted “embellishing his resume,” though in reality he just made up a fictional character he thought his Long Island constituents would like and vote for. 
Santos said he was proud of his Jewish heritage, for example, later explaining that he is really just kind of “Jew-ish,” whatever that means. That’s not funny, and in fact speaks volumes about his true religious convictions. There was also no record of Santos at the college he allegedly graduated from and Goldman Sachs confirmed he never worked there as claimed. “That was just a poor choice of words,” he said after the fact.
Bogus, Mr. Congressman. You lied, and got caught, and destroyed the trust needed to be a public servant. If Santos lived in Nebraska his political career would be over before it even started because his credibility has been shot.
Elizabeth Holmes is another young fib machine making headlines for her ability to stretch, massage and ultimately blow the truth to smithereens. Holmes famously took Silicon Valley by storm after dropping out of Stanford, developing technology she claimed would revolutionize the healthcare industry by conducting thousands of complex tests from a few drops of blood. 
She somehow convinced some very smart, powerful and wealthy people that Theranos was a game-changer, raising millions upon millions of dollars for her company, though in fact her product never worked. It was all a con, as well documented in a fascinating podcast, The Drop Out. 
Holmes couldn’t escape from her trail of deceit, and after a year-long trial she was sentenced to 11 years in jail as a disgraced entrepreneur. Santos, on the other hand, refuses to resign. That’s the ultimate dagger in this young man’s character. Even after being called out for his fictional biography, he still feels entitled to serve as a card-carrying member of the United States Congress. A majority of his colleagues, thus far, agree.
We’re taught as little kids to tell the truth, to know the difference between right and wrong, and to do what’s right. In my gut, I believe Santos, Holmes and too many people in positions of influence today can look themselves in the mirror knowing that they are crossing that line, but simply choose to say and do whatever necessary to get what they want.
We can pretend that it’s okay, that dismissing deliberate lies as miscommunication doesn’t really matter, but that itself would be a lie, and a sad reflection on our society. 
KURT JOHNSON can be reached at kjohnson@ hamilton.net