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When lies persist
NBC's "Dateline" television journal aired a tragedy Monday evening.
A man clung to the steel girders of a bridge. Police and emergency vehicles
clogged the traffic deck by the dozens, and both approaches where barricaded
to prevent public access. Officials and emergency workers stood by passively
while the distraught man hung from the girders, gestured, tossed his wallet
to some unknown officer, and then banged his head against the girder in
frustration. Finally, becoming increasingly upset, he jumped into the river
below. After a moment, one short rope was dangled from the bridge as a sort
of gesture by the authorities.
After a few moments of struggling in the calm, slow-moving water, the man
slipped under, drowning. A heroic medical student swam the river in a solitary,
desperate attempt to save the jumper. After an eternity of struggle the
rescuer, now joined by a another volunteer, brought the victim ashore. A
straggle of Philadelphia rescue workers arrived, but without the equipment
or devices necessary to resuscitate the victim. He died.
All told, the scenario of clinging to the bridge, the plunge, the rescue
attempt by first one and then a second onlooker, played out for over half
an hour. During all that time no attempt was made by the Philadelphia police
or rescue officials to intercede in the tragedy, until the victim was brought
ashore, unconscious and near death.
Would it have made a difference if the jumper had not been black?
So, what? Just another shameful story, right?
Wrong. City officials immediately stonewalled the NBC reporters, refusing
to comment on the incident. Mostly the officials defended their officers
and departments, and alluded that failure to respond to the emergency was
a "prudent" action to avoid unnecessary risk of injury to the
officers.
The lies begin. Officials deny, cover up, gloss over, hide behind gag orders
imposed by threats of litigation, and slam their doors. Telephone calls
are not returned. The incident cannot be discussed. No one dares confront
the truth. Denial and silence must suffice.
We all know the drill. It happens again, and again ... and yet again. Denial,
silence, half-truths at best, and lies at worst.
Somehow, when what has gone around finally comes around, the officials who
deny and obfuscate and talk riddles and half-truths, and finally, in sum,
lie to us through their teeth ... they survive unpunished and uncensured.
And go on to lie another day.
But we really know what happened that day. It was a circus.
The guys who get paid to be the best that they possibly can be, for the
sake of the rest of us, took the afternoon off to have a little fun. They
gathered on the bridge to watch a black man drown himself.
And the guys who get paid to run all this ducked for cover under an umbrella
of lies.
Maybe we need a strong wind to blow those lies away.
Maybe we need to begin holding the liars accountable for their lies.
A mysterious and revered middle-Eastern spiritual leader taught that the
greatest sin is lying. When lies prevail, trust is destroyed. And without
trust, nothing else is possible.
Nothing else is possible.
NOTHING else is possible.
--gb/Tue, Feb 13
Saturday, October 18, 2003 © Graybyrd 18-Oct-03
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