I can't help it, but today I make a rather pessimistic post. The reason is a message in the news today that our minister of Foreign Affairs confessed that he has lied.
Halbe Zijlstra, minister of Foreign Affairs. Foto Bart Maat / ANP
You could ask, Clio is it so bad that it makes you a little bit sad and pessimistic? The answer is no and yes at the same time.
No, because unfortunately, I know that politicians lie to make their story stronger or because it suits them for whatever reason and this particular lie is not the end of the world, but,
Yes, because I thought or hoped that the Ministers and Secretaries of State in our new government were honest and as it seems that it not the case.
Government buildings in The Hague
Our Minister of Foreign Affairs Zijlstra says he lied about the fact that he was present during a meeting with President Putin of Russia in 2006. Contrary to this claim, he confessed today that he was not present at this meeting in the Putin country house.
Zijlstra was the leader of the largest political party in the Netherlands and claimed in a speech at a party congress in 2016 (so ten years later) that he had heard Putin himself talk about 'Great Russia'. He said: "I was an employee, I was hidden away in the room where it took place, but I could very well hear what Vladimir Putin was answering to the question of what he meant by Great Russia."
Zijlstra said that Putin's answer was: 'that is Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and the Baltic States, and Kazakhstan was nice to have."
Today the minister says in his statements: "It was not wise, I should have done it differently." He says he borrowed someone else's story. By telling him that he was at a meeting with Putin, Zijlstra wanted to protect his source.
Zijlstra says: "I then made the choice: okay, this is an important geopolitical story, its implications are solid, so I pulled the story to myself to make sure that the person who was there did not become the revealing factor. Because this could also imply implications for him or his company ".
I think he will be forgiven and will stay on as a minister, but his credibility is damaged.
And indeed, just before posting this story I heard on the news that our Prime Minister Mark Rutte said: "it was not wise, but he can stay on!"
Our parliament consists of two chambers. This is our 'Tweede Kamer', you can compare this Second Chamber with the American House of Representatives or in England The House of Commons.
www.tweedekamer.nl
What is it with politicians that they lie and that it often has no consequences.
What is it with politicians that they condemn politicians in other countries (like presidents Trump or Putin) because they make 'fake news' but they do it also themselves.
So my pessimistic feelings are based on the feeling that nobody in high office can be really trusted and that there is no real integrity.
On the other hand, you can ask yourself (I can ask myself) are we always honest and sincere?
If the answer is no and I think it will be no, can we then expect our politicians to be honest and sincere?
And yet we do so because we want our politicians to be of service to our countries and us, the inhabitants, and we want them to be honest and to work for our good.
Perhaps that is too much to ask because many politicians have their own interests higher than the interests of their country.
That is what makes me sad and pessimistic about the future.
What can we do? Not much I think. We can vote in the elections of course, but you never know what will be known later on. But it remains important to vote for a politician or a political party that you think is most sincere and honest.
What we can do is look into our own hearts and try to be honest and sincere ourselves.
Have a nice day,
Clio
I don't think there is any such thing as a honest politician. Politicians are people who become masters by supplying others with illusions.Politicians and honest people are opposite to each other....
Politicians are people who become masters by supplying others with illusions, it is sad but I think you are right. I hope your latest sentence is not completely true. That would be so very very sad.
I am afraid to say that there is very high possibility of that being true...
There's your answer
It's tough being "under" a government system. They are there to manage the country and monies given by us. But do we give them our ultimate loyalty or trust?? No. They aren't God.
I think that leaders should lead and be examples, good examples to people. I think too that they forget that they are servants first - put in office by the people for the people. When they fall, and they all do, we get to decide if they stay when we vote next time.
In the meantime, disappointment in their behavior, or feeling betrayed by their lies, or seeing them for who they really are can cloud our days, that is for sure.
We just have to keep our personal wits about us. Remember the story about the Emperor with no clothes? I keep that in mind with politicians. I'm sure there are some who are honest at the beginning and maybe even stay honest during their careers.
One last thing....it's interesting that Putin is in these lies and stories all over the world it seems. Blech.
Nothing undoes trust as much as a lie.
I hope tomorrow is a better day for you @clio :)
Thanks for your extensive comment. The next day was indeed a better day, I will write about it today in a post. And your last remark was very true "nothing undoes trust as much as a lie".
Maybe it is our naive thought that we want our readers to be fully honest with us. But same for me, I can not stand it when politicians lie..its giving a wrong signal to our population that its okay to do something and get away with it.
I do believe however that some political games should not be in the public. Thats why these people respresent our country and why we chose them. Because we should 'blindly be able to trust them'
I think you hit the nail on the head. When they lie, they give a wrong message to the people and that's really sad. "If they do it, we can do it too"! It requires a high moral standard to remain honest even if your leaders lie.
I think we are all a little naive when it comes to believing that our elected officials shall be honest. It does leave us disillusioned and a bit pessimistic when we have been let down and lied to. I have just had that experience with a lawyer, where he lied to me and cheated me. It will be difficult for me to trust another one...
It is so sad really, why are they behaving this way. For their own profit; to show they have power; because they don't care; because they can? I don't know but it is indeed difficult to stay optimistic about human behavior.
Unfortunately almost every politicians, every people, even myself lie sometimes. Most important question is, is your lie hurting someone/something or making damage? Politicians' wrong saying can cause this problem most! They often lie, because, as you said above "many politicians have their own interests higher than the interests of their country." This is true and this is unforgivable! They take the power from their community! They must be respectful to who vote them. Thanks for writing to help to build a much honest community!
Your question: "does your lie hurts someone/something or makes damage?" is a tricky one. I do agree, but it is difficult to know when it is a 'white lie' or when it is a real lie. When your best friend asks you if you like his girlfriend or his haircut, and you don't like her and don't like his hair, you can choose to tell the truth or you can turn it around a bit. What is better? I think it depends on the circumstances, but I know even a white lie often comes out.
The big lies of the politicians are unforgivable and we should not vote for them the next time.
Exactly! We shouldn't vote for them next time!
And about white lies... I believe that "a lie is a lie"... white or real! As often, I avoid to hurt someone! That is why I can accept the white lies! :) But being honest to someone also becomes to be honest yourself! This is important.
Oh yes, our world has changed for a long time and all thanks to a policy that sometimes leads to negative consequences. Your Minister lied and I am sure that in every country this happens, also in mine, so I completely agree with you, first of all we need to remain kind and honest! Thank you Clio
Thank you for your support!!!
Yes, you are right about being sad and pessimistic. Politicians have their interest higher than the interest of their country. And as you say this is what the human does generally.
Maybe one day with a lots of practice (looking into our hearts and try to honest and sincere) humanity has s chance to have sincere and honest politicians. Thank you for your sharing.
I think we have to give the right example if we don't do it, who will?
Yes, definitely agree with you, maybe it could cause a chain reaction. This is what we can do for better future. Much love
you are right.its sad when we come to know that the leader we chose is not honest to the public. but i think we cannot blame them 100 percent because The reasons politicians lie is because the public doesn't want to hear the truth. People want to hear what they want to hear. When two candidates are running and one of the tells the truth and the other says what the public wants to hear, the one who says what the public wants to hear wins the election. Thus, and there are exceptions to this, if you want to win an election, you better start lying, because the guy who's telling you the truth doesn't have a chance.
It is so sad, but I think (know) you are right. But for the public, it is not always easy to know who is speaking the truth and how is lying. Often they both are lying, one more than the other, but both aren't speaking the whole truth.
In india news is no more a news they just show advertisement and try to earn extra bugs... Really for them money is more than country news 😢😢😢..... Nice article keep it up @clio
Thank you, I'm sorry to hear that the political situation in India is also not as it should be!
Never trust fully on a politician words. Thats my rule for life and you can make it yours too you will never get disappointed again
I understand your rule, but don't you think it is very sad we have to think that way?
It is not a question of whether your politician lies, it is a question of whether your politician lies less than the other politicians.
Then there is the question of Why did my politician lie? Was it for personal gain or for the better good?
Often they both are lying, one more than the other, but both aren't speaking the whole truth.
The question you mentioned is important, but don't you think that lying is morally wrong in itself or do you think there are reasons or situations when it is not wrong?
In general, I think that lying is morally wrong. But for this story, I believe there are pieces missing.
For example, what if Zijlstra's choice at the time was to say he was there, or his source would be killed? The other thought is, what if Zijlstra was truly there, but the Putin regime gave him an ultimatum to either denounce his story or he/family would be harmed?
I find that politicians always tell us (the public) what we want to hear so we can vote for them. Once in office to cover up the lies they made in the campaign they are then forced to lie more. It's a vicious circle. If they spoke 100% truth no one would ever vote for them. All over the world politicians are nearly the same. Since none of us is perfect, we just have to deal with them...sad reality:)
None of us is perfect, that is true, but suppose all politicians would tell the truth than we could really vote for the politician of our choice. Now it is so difficult and we are indeed in a vicious circle.
It's sad that today's politicians all seem to tell lies, thinking we the people are not smart enough to discover the truth for ourselves. Mr. Trump has lied 2,000 times and still counting, these falsehoods as some commentators politely call them are just out and out blatant lies! At school when a class mate got caught in a lie, we would scream " Liar Liar Pants On Fire". I wish just once, someone in the press would shout this out at the next press conference.
That would be the day!! But it would be fantastic if somebody dared to call this!
That's politics for ya!
sadly there is nothing new in this
lies and corruption
pretty hard these days to fish out the goodens
Yes, it is hard, but we have to try because there is no other solution.
I know,
I will carry on voting as always
but it is becoming increasingly hard to
find the rights from the wrongs
it is almost if we are Americanizing in a way?
there should be zero tolerance for lies when it comes
to politics.. but that's just my opinion
I think you are completely right, zero tolerance for lies when it comes to politics.
Well @clio
He just quit 🎉
great articles ♥ thank you for sharing ♥@clio
Dear Clio, you do not have to worry. For power people are capable of much, I think the main thing is that we should live dignified, that would not be ashamed of actions.
Wow!!❤❤❤ it's a very important news for everyone's! !so love this post!!
@clio it make me sad to .but now a days its common i think we need too choose those who looks good not best because when your best do things like this that can make you so sad have a nice day <3
thanks for sharing a news......i like your every post.........keep it up........@clio
nice articles ,i hate politices 😐😐
nice article this s good
upvote then resteem
İt is wonderful. You are awesome @clio
sadness is human nature, but the future is unlikely to be bleak. because the future depends what we do today.
He must be remplaceren and not get a wachtgeldregeling!
Awsm post i hv upvoted quickly seeing so great post plz follow and upvote me too
honesty begins with us
this sounds good but who is following this facts of life in real world
humanity needs to be preserved @clio