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Biggest Lie

For me, the biggest lie in politics has always been "Everybody does it". The person saying those three words or an equivalent phrase defends their questionable actions not by denying those actions but rather saying 1) that every other politician does it, implying 2) it's not fair to hold me accountable.

Neither of those claims bears any scrutiny, but many in the electorate seem willing to accept them. This form of jadedness always seems very lazy to me. It is easier to accept both statements but then we have unaccountable leaders which are always a direct threat to good governance.

The appropriate response, preferably by journalists who should know better, is to ask for 1) names of others to investigate and 2) valid reasons not to hold the speaker accountable for their actions. Letting this sort of thing go does no one any good.

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