In the political climate of today, the age-old adage “honesty is the best policy” has become unrecognizable and the “art of compromise” has become crushed and mangled into the “art of obstruction and distortion.”

Within the Republican Party a new adage has emerged, “lying is the best policy,” and obstruction and distortion have become the order of the day. The Republican who said “never mind if it is true – say it and someone will believe it” has started an avalanche of lies that keeps on growing. The political extremists have had a great deal of success in conning a sizable group of people on our society who are uninformed, misinformed and generational bigots into believing that getting rid of President Barack Obama, the first African-American president, will be the cure-all. In the event President Obama is not re-elected, this will surely not be the case, and those poor misguided souls who tripped all over themselves to vote for those individuals who are now their political representatives – who promised to make it happen – will no doubt find themselves in the same quality of life boat or worse off.

The Republican presidential candidates have now hitched their wagon to the avalanche of lies and are using tactics that makes them unworthy of being the leader of a band, never mind a country. They are intentionally rekindling the flames of racism, distorting the facts about recipients of entitlement programs and labeling President Obama as the “Food Stamp President.” Truth be told, the percentage of whites receiving food stamps, public assistance and Medicaid is greater than the percentage of African-Americans, but telling a lie puts things in a better perspective for the audience they are appealing to.

The open and truthful communication between constituents and their representatives that once existed has been lost in today’s political maze of lies and deceit. The skillful ability of many Republican politicians to tell the same lie verbatim regarding a given issue can give one cause to believe that they have completed a course on “The Collective and Organized Art of Lying” or “How to Make Lies Believable.” The political extremists in the Republican Party, with a lust for power and greed, have willingly sold their self respect, moral principles and love of country to what can best be described as modern day devils. The likes of Art Pope and the Koch Brothers are controlling their thoughts and actions with the almighty dollar, which in turn entices them to follow the agenda written for them by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). The goal of Pope and the Koch Brothers is to take control of the decision-making process in this country.

Through the passage of legislation on both the national on both the national and state level they are moving forward to dominate business, break unions, deregulate major industries, sabotage health care, gut public education and rig elections. The extreme legislation being passed in states where the leadership is in the hands of a Republican majority should be a wake-up call for all of us who believe in the principles of fairness, justice and equal opportunities for all citizens regardless of race, creed or color.

Last, but not least, those of us who consider ourselves to be believers in truth, justice and equality should take a long hard look in the mirror. Following the 2008 elections we let our guard down. We became complacent and started to believe that we had entered a “post racial” period in history of this country. We were so caught up in the moment that we neglected to keep our eyes open and on those individuals and groups who had had a minor setback or were emerging. We did not truly rally to counteract their determination to preserve. As a result, the elections of 2010 were a game changer and we now find ourselves in a struggle to regain much that has been lost. The age-old adage “give them an inch and they will take a yard” has much truth. If we are to overcome, we must take a stand for justice and equality, challenge the lies and spread truth.

Gardenia B. Hobbs

Rocky Mount