You Can't Handle The Truth!!!

I love the movie "A Few Good Men."  One of the best parts of the movie is the exchange between Tom Cruise and Jack Nicholson near the end of the movie.  I think most of you know the one I'm talking about, but here it is just in case:

Col. Jessep:  You want answers?
Kaffee:  I think I'm entitled to...
Col. Jessep:  You want answers?!!!
Kaffee:  I want the truth!!!
Col. Jessep:  You can't handle the truth!

This is how I feel today after spending a few minutes reading up on the political news of the day.  Some of the major news outlets are covering the ongoing questions over the Obama Administration's response to the Benghazi Terrorist attacks.  These same news outlets are also covering the fact that the IRS was targeting right leaning political non-profit groups for "extra scrutiny".  And now today we have the news that the Justice Department seized and unprecedented number phone records from the AP as part of an on-going investigation into security leaks.

Predictably, those on the left are either stating that these "scandals" are much ado about nothing, or they are trying to deflect attention from these issues by pointing out that the House Republicans just voted to end overtime pay.  This opinion piece from CBS News charts the typical response from the left today.  In fact, the following from this opinion piece gets to the crux of the issue for the writer.  "These twin controversies will spur more congressional hearings. That, in turn, means months more of disclosures, rabbit holes, and partisan attacks. For many liberals, this is the obvious point of the politically motivated Benghazi inquiries: to pin the president down and leave him ineffective."

Personally, I don't view the Benghazi inquiries and purely political.  Four Americans died and some of us want to know the truth of what happened and was the more our elected leaders could have or should have done.  We need to learn from tragedy so it doesn't repeat.

But that's not what this blog is about.  This blog is about truth.  The writer of that opinion piece is not interested in the truth of what happened.  He is more interested in the political spin and defending his side.  This is the problem with the truth...it can often be ugly, and often for the "side" you support.  For those on the left, you would have been up in arms had a Republican administration acted this way, but you want it ignored when it's your guy in there.  For those on the right who are happy that this is going on, you better be okay with an investigation when (or if) your side ever wins an election and does something stupid.

The truth is rarely easy to face.  That's why we lie to each other and accept lies so willingly.  Facing the truth means confronting our own ugliness and our own mistakes.  It means making difficult, life changing, and frequently unpopular decisions.  But, when we have the truth and we are prepared to accept it, it is liberating.  For me, accepting the truth that both the right and the left in this country are in this for political gain was freeing.  I was no longer beholden to one side or one ideology.  Granted, I'm still a conservative, but I recognize that the Republicans aren't all good and the Democrats aren't all bad, and that both parties are capable of screwing up royally.  And when they do, Democrat or Republican, we need to know about it...the whole ugly truth.

To borrow from "A Few Good Men", I know I can handle the truth.  Can you?