Liars and other folks  

A brief skim through the comments after the columns and letters in the OC Register and the Daily Pilot suggests that everyone in Costa Mesa must be a liar. Over three-quarters of the comments reviewed during the last five days complain of lies told by the opposition or else brands the opposition liars.

“The liar's punishment is, not in the least that he is not believed, but that he cannot believe anyone else.”
― George Bernard Shaw, The Quintessence of Ibsenism

Perhaps Mr. Shaw nailed it for Costa Mesa during this election. Liars cannot believe anyone else, especially not their opponents, so they are vigorously branding and labeling and accusing others of being liars. Branding and labeling are propaganda techniques we've discussed.

What is a lie

But, what is a lie? According to Wikipedia, it means to deliver a false statement to another person which the speaking person knows is not the whole truth, intentionally.  This includes the contextual lie in which one states part of the truth out of context, knowing that without complete information, it gives a false impression.  We discussed quoting out of context in an earlier blog (2 Oct.).

Quoting out of context was illustrated with candidate John Stephens’ mailers quoting a couple of phrases from a piece in a Wall Street Journal article. The quote implied that some California cities face bankruptcy because they are Charter cities. 

Out of context lie

The article actually suggested that the cities, adopting a Charter with input from unions, accepted provisions that benefited the unions but drove them to bankruptcy. Mr. Stephens wants to write a different Charter for Costa Mesa with more input from stakeholders. (It should be noted that he is supported and endorsed by labor unions, which probably represent stakeholders in his mind.)

Others' views on lies

Religion weighs in on lying, too. The Old Testament and New Testament of the Bible both contain statements that God cannot lie and that lying is immoral. In the Qur'an those who lie destroy their souls. "For a liar who has violated the one law (of truthfulness) holds in scorn the hereafter, there is no evil that he cannot do.”

“Be bad, but at least don't be a liar, a deceiver!” 

― Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina

Somewhat or mostly lies

Some examples of mendaciousness in Costa Mesa’s elections don’t involve complete lies, but rather, selected truths. For example, one City Council candidate assures us she’s in favor of youth sport activities and even wore a high-school sports T-shirt to show her support. And, she assures us she’s been an avid supporter of the City for over 25 years.

What she doesn't say, is that she opposed lighting a sports field because it would bring noise to her quiet neighborhood. She suggested instead that the kids walk or ride a couple of miles (through traffic) to another, more crowded, but lighted field. Parents were outraged, but she has no children and perhaps didn't consider the dangers of traffic to youthful sports enthusiasts.

And, she made a very “cute” presentation to another city’s City Council, warning them against partnering with Costa Mesa to save expenses. She suggested that Costa Mesa couldn't be depended upon to keep its promises. (Another Quote from the Bard is suggested here: “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.”)

Are her statements lies? Probably not complete lies, at least according to the Wikipedia definition. There may be a different answer, though, from those who define mendacity from Biblical or Muslim scriptures.

Summarizing

So, we can summarize and say that liars tend to consider everyone liars, and there are many ways to sidestep the truth. And, we cannot really call someone a liar based upon a single false or misleading statement; it could be a simple error.

On the other hand, we should be particularly alert to attempts to manipulate our opinion by those who brand others liars. That is, we should suspect propaganda and investigate much more thoroughly any statements from them.

It’s election season in Costa Mesa: don’t get fooled by labels (like liar) or other attempts to manipulate your opinion by arousing emotion. That’s just propaganda. Instead, decide to support candidates and propositions based upon logic and facts.

I've decided to vote for Mensinger, Monahan, McCarthy, and to vote YES on Measure V. 

I'd have whipped him, that's for sure (updated)

Remember being in Junior High School when a (fist) fight was anticipated? Most often one party didn’t show and the other swaggered around (secretly relieved) throwing punches at an imaginary opponent and daring the opponent to come out and fight.

The Anti-M candidates (Genis, Weitzberg, and Stephens) are really, really, ready to debate, but they’ve been cut off. But, they have credentials and accomplishments, and they really, really want to debate.

Cancelled out of debate

Costa Mesa United,  which is a non-profit group promoting youth sports, and is something like  a Home Owners’ Association (HOA), cancelled a scheduled Candidates’ Forum they were sponsoring that focused on youth athletics. They said the cancellation was because two of the candidates in the debate are on their Board of Directors (BOD).

As a HOA BOD member I can surely understand – it’s very important to maintain both the reality and the appearance of impartiality. My HOA faced a lot of heat (from a couple of the M’s, actually) about a perceived conflict of interest and impartiality because we have a member who is also an officer on an advocacy group. Cancel the forum that involves BOD members debating non-members? Of course, it’s a slam dunk (pun intended).

I wanted to fight, really

The three Anti-M’s immediately press-released and interviewed with sycophant bloggers about how ready they were to debate. To read it, they were all once very sports-minded, and they think youth sports are critical to Costa Mesa. (They didn’t say, but I’m sure they’re all in favor of motherhood and apple pie, too.)

A lot of the sports support they cite is from (kinda’) long ago and (kinda’) far away, with Stephens citing his pride in his work for Fountain Valley and other city teams, and Genis talking about her (what else) accomplishments in a past reincarnation as a CM Council Member – and Mayor. John, who is a lawyer – which he cited often last month – and has an office in Newport Beach, a prestigious area – also cited often, mentioned that he scraped cheese out of cookers after games, just like a regular guy. Apparently he even came to the meeting dressed to play -- or to impress -- or maybe just to pretend (see update, below).

The nefarious motivations surface

And, predictably, the pundits started offering hidden reasons for the forum cancellation: fear in a suspected future Council candidate (named Katrina) that an angry parents group would show up to confront Sandy (Genis) for advocating against lights on a playing field – Harper Park – in Fountain Valley. Oh, yes, and John’s perceived weakness in that his own children attend private schools and his sports-support happens in other cities.

Since all three are able politicians I imagine they had arguments ready for these criticisms. Unfortunately, I haven’t found anything specific that they actually do advocate, just “give the kids more” – money, I guess. The “throw money at the problem” solution is a point of contention in this race, anyway, so the debate might have become profound.

How it played out

However, according to the Daily Pilot, Stephens showed up with a baseball glove and hat, and Sandy wore a High School Sports shirt. Also according to the Pilot, about five non-CM4RG folks showed up, so I guess there weren't a lot of people there to ooh and ah about two candidates' costumes and pretended "sports-mindedness."

Walking the walk, not talking the talk

Mensinger got involved in politics by trying to get the city to pay for the grass seed he was buying for playing fields, gravitating eventually to the City Council. Monahan’s restaurant supports local youth sports and his kids attend local schools. McCarthy has sports support background and experience, and is and will be (a little child in the house, too), sending his kids to local schools.

Mensinger and McCarthy spend a lot of their “free” hours on youth sports, so they’re probably better informed about problems. But, whether their positions on the BOD gave them an advantage or not they have pretty good credentials for walking the walk in CM youth sports, which would have been an advantage over their opponents -- who don’t.

But to me, the important point was that unfairness could have been perceived. So Costa Mesa United had good reason to cancel the forum.

Easier to swish the air

I wish that the candidates who aren’t particularly involved in CM sports had identified specific Youth Sports problems or the solutions that they’d favor as Council members. There’s certainly plenty of information available if anyone were interested. It’s easier to throw punches at the air, though