Chavez: Sailing under false colors

Every now and then, one of my children will take off and sail under false colors. This typically occurs at moments of inquiry, where I am the one inquiring and the truthful answer is one they might regret. When things go awry, it’s often difficult for anyone to fess up, especially when the consequences most likely will be unfavorable. Even so, I have repeatedly impressed upon my children that regardless of what it is that they may have done wrong, to lie about it is a graver offense.

I can understand making a mistake. I know first hand that everyone is capable of an error in judgment, and even repeated errors in judgment. And yes, I do believe accidents really happen.

But what I cannot tolerate is someone who looks me in the eye and lies.

From the outset of my adventure in parenting, I always knew there would come moments when my children would express less than the truth. It’s the nature of children. Fact and fantasy kind of intermingle for at least the first five years, and often a few more than that. But at those ages, rarely will you find a kid who will knowingly lie and understands the implications of the act.

It’s the pre-adolescent years that can often portend a credibility problem. This is the age where most children have learned the difference between right and wrong, but at the same time, these kids have figured out that when one does wrong and is discovered it doesn’t equate to an admiring pat on the back. At best, it’s a loss of some privilege. At worst, it’s a
loss of all privileges.

So in order to avoid a negative consequence, skirting the truth can sometimes seem appealing.

Yet I would rather my children take the Fifth with me than utter something that has no bearing in fact. Because, to me, a lie is more than just an evasion, it’s like cutting a piece of the soul. It’s a violation of the truth, of self and of existence. It’s the beginning of not being real.

What brings all this to mind is the recent debacle with Linda Chavez, the Bush nominee for U.S. Secretary of Labor, who happened to harbor an illegal alien in her home way back in the early ’90s.

The story is Mrs. Chavez met a Guatemalan woman who had been residing at a shelter home for women. The woman had fled an abusive husband and had found herself completely without means. Mrs. Chavez evidently took this woman into her home in an act of charity. She provided the woman with a place to live, food to eat and would occasionally gift her with money. For Mrs. Chavez’s generosity, the woman did the only thing she could at the time to express her gratitude and her value: She helped around the house.

I can believe that.

I find nothing wrong with a person choosing to help someone in need, and likewise I find nothing wrong when a person receiving help contributes something in return. Some people may be able to crash someone’s home and not lift a finger, but decent people, if they’re capable, don’t. People who possess dignity don’t have the capacity to freeload off others.

The problem for Mrs. Chavez arose when she unfortunately smudged the truth about her knowledge of the woman’s status as an illegal immigrant. She may have been forthcoming with the Bush administration about her act of charity, but she lied about the time frame when she became aware that the woman she was helping was an undocumented visitor.

It seems like such a small infraction in light of everything Mrs. Chavez has done.

Like the president-elect, I believe Mrs. Chavez is a talented woman and would have filled the position as secretary of labor very well. And she is obviously a woman of kind heart for having the willingness to so generously help someone in need. But in the end, her kindness led her to deceit and she effectively shot herself in the foot.

Her nomination may have been salvageable had she been utterly truthful with her supporters. It may have taken an act of Congress (literally), but ultimately, her character could have prevailed. After all, the alternative at the time to keeping her mouth shut about the woman’s illegal status would have been to turn her over to authorities, and most likely the woman would have been shipped back to her abusive husband and a dangerously unstable country.

The bleeding hearts would have had a field day had that occurred.

But, kind of like that man who is still striving to define “is,” who did not possess the strength of character to stand up and say, “Yes, I had an affair with that woman, and it’s none of your damn business,” who chose instead to sit before the inquisitors, the grand jury, the entire country and lie about reality, Mrs. Chavez undercut her own integrity, sheared a little bit of her soul and lost all credibility by means of a simple untruth.

And, as I tell my children, that’s one of the consequences of sailing under false colors.