There is a really incongruous anger in American public opinion regarding accountability. For some reason, we demonize one liar over another as if there is some sort of list of valid excuses which apply to only some people. The two people that come to mind who were treated very differently by both their respective institutions and by the public when they were caught lying are former NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams and current democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. Williams was first targeted after evidence arose that he had fabricated a story about being on a “helicopter that took fire in Iraq in 2003”. But isn’t there a similar story about Hillary? Something about evading sniper fire in Bosnia right? Why didn’t this farce ruin Hillary like it did Brian Williams? How accountable are they being held for their actions?
Hillary Clinton has been a public servant for a very long time having served as several distinct roles. She has accumulated, through trust and through direct representation, a large group of citizens to whom she is accountable. For some reason, she can no longer do wrong in their eyes even though her actions directly affect their lives. People call her a liar and a robot but at the end of the day she has represented 100% more people than Brian Williams has, but for some reason she is not publically disgraced when she exaggerates memories and directly lies to people. Williams is a simple reporter who gained influence only through NBC and his own popularity. While he has been a news source for many people for about ten years, he has never actually represented them. His deliveries and choice on coverage may have had implications on peoples’ lives but in truth he never voted for someone or tried to get peoples’ votes—he is not a public servant. Why was he disgraced immediately once his lies hit double digit and not Secretary Clinton?
I think that people are more willing to forgive those who are doing something positive, whatever it or its implicit consequences are. Secretary Clinton served people despite her lies. Brian Williams delivered the news. If the news can be presented in rhetorical, partisan ways however it itself cannot change based on the whim of a reporter. Until reporters like Williams fabricate their details. If we apply this to Secretary Clinton and keep in mind her actual substantive influence on international relations, the Senate, and the White House shouldn’t her discrepancies be weighted much more heavily and dealt with far more proportionally than Brian Williams?” Is this really all because of how dependent we are on our political leaders that we go as far as to allow them to narrate the news for us?
Next we’ll wholeheartedly be following politicians like (and including) Mrs. Clinton off of the George Washington Bridge.
