The past week three news stories dominated the airwaves and reflected back to Americans images of our current culture: The release of the Bob Woodward book "State of Denial," the resignation of Mark Foley following revelations of inappropriate contact with underage pages, and the senseless killings of young Amish school girls in Pennsylvania. All reveal how lying and avoiding the truth, avoiding pain, eventually lead to disastrous outcomes far greater than the original offense.
I hadn't closely followed the story of Charles Carl Roberts IV and the 10 young girls he shot before turning the gun on himself. Then last Saturday on NPR I learned how in an incredible act of forgiveness the Amish community reached out to his widow and invited his family to the funerals of the slain girls.
I turned off the radio and crossed the street to Madison Market to puchase some groceries for that morning. Entering the store brought to mind the brutal killings Capitol Hill experienced last spring when a half dozen young people, several of whom worked at the market, were slain by a man they'd befriended and welcomed into their home.
The tragedy cast tremendous grief on staff members at the Market but also united them in a bond of compassion and purpose. In homage to their fallen co-workers and friends, staff displayed memorials and photographs in the store entry for several months after the incident. In grief, they discovered the power of community coming together and searching for comfort and eventually resolution.
The news that Congressman Mark Foley of Florida initiated inappropriate contact with House pages seemed to stun an already scandal-ridden political establishment in Washington. The staff of House Speaker Dennis Hastert and administrators of the page program reported Foley was warned to cut off contact with pages, but nobody seemed to make certain he followed this directive.
Another option
The sad part is if Foley had admitted his homosexuality several years ago when questions surfaced, or when he first ran for office, perhaps he could have begun the process of "coming out" and finding acceptance as a gay Republican. Another Congressman in Foley's own party, Jim Kolbe of Arizona, had done so.
Instead Foley lived a life of secrecy and found it easier to hide behind innuendo and internet banter rather than confront his dreaded demons, real or imagined, and move toward emotional maturity. No wonder he used the crutch of alcoholism and abuse at the hands of a priest to cover his shame.
Woodward's "State of Denial" tells the story of Iraq and how we ended up in this quagmire despite the doubts and warnings of intelligent high-level advisers to the President. The book's revelations, for a short time eclipsed by the two other events, point to Iraq's escalating violence and the Bush Administration's avoidance of truth telling to the American public, Congress and themselves.
It is no secret the execution of the war has been a failure. Generals, secretaries of state, chiefs of staff, even his wife tried to tell the President a change in the prosecution of the war is needed. But he continued to butress his reasons for staying the course with fallacy after fallacy all based on promoting fear. The man does not try to pretend there is a difference between truth and lies. And if you challenge him, you are an enemy. Freedom of speech and other constitutional freedoms hang in the balance, and our democracy is threatened.
The lessons from the Amish killings, the Foley scandal and "State of Denial's" snapshot of the White House effort to win the war in Iraq are that people who don't take time to know themselves, gather outside and sometimes opposing opinions, and understand their strengths, weaknesses, and motivations will self-destruct and take other innocent lives with them. And cause an inordinate amount of pain in the process.
The draw revenge
There is an unquenchable thirst many of us have to seek retribution and vengeance for perceived hurts and injury. As they bury their beloved daughters on a hilltop cemetary while forgiving the assailant for his crime, the Amish beautifully mirror true Christianity to the rest of us.
Perhaps while seeking justice at home in the Foley inquiry and peace abroad in Iraq, we need to forgive our leaders for their trespasses and instead seek resolution and reconciliation in our own country. With the full knowledge adults need to take responsiblity and be held accountable for their deeds.
Maybe the fact truth eventually surfaces is payback enough.
Jack Hilovsky lives on Capitol Hill. His column appears in the second issue of each month. He can be reached at editor@capitolhilltimes.com.
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