ISSUE 167 第一篇习作……求拍~鞠躬~

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"It is impossible for an effective political leader to tell the truth all the time. Complete honesty is not a useful virtue for a politician."

Is complete honesty useful in politics? A political leader who acts as a model to the people is required to be honest. But the truth is that the complication of politics makes it quite impossible for a politician to tell the truth all the time. It is not the integrity that brings up a great leader. A qualified political leader should figure out how to weigh the scales of telling the truth and the lie.
Under some circumstances, complete integrity does less contribution to a politician’s career than appropriate rhetoric. To be a successful politician, it is vital for one to be capable of using rhetorical words which will not only help him or her to get the support from people but also beat other opponents. For example, if one wants to gain as many constituencies as possible in the election, he or she has to get close to the voters by giving flowery and inflammatory speeches, promising them more welfare, better social security and etc. Furthermore, those who tell the truth will absolutely be considered naïve and vulnerable. In the game of politics, one has to tell lies to deceive their opponents so as to defeat them and win the battle. Otherwise, the opponents will take advantage of his or her outright honest to force him or her fall by the wayside. And only when the politician achieves his or her status in government or congress can his or her political claims be pursued.
On the other side, even if one has already been a political leader, he or she cannot avoid telling the public something not in conformity with the truth which they have to conceal. Hypothetically, if government officials such as the President or the Secretary of the state do not withhold information concerned with state secret, national security will not be guaranteed. In some sense, it is incumbent upon the political leader to keep certain truth which may lead to ill-result away from the public. It is necessary for politicians to conceal part of truth and fabricate proper lies. If not, the aftermath of leaking information is very likely to cause a panic or national crisis. Certainly, such strategy are also been applied to solving international affairs.
Although hiding truth is inevitable for an effective political leader , misrepresent the fact for own benefit is unforgivable. The prerequisite which allows a political leader to hold back the truth is his or her loyalty to the public. There is no contradiction here. The prime mission to a political leader is to assert  public interest. Telling lies is one of the methods to preserve public advantage, while serving people still holds the priority. For the long run, those who mislead the public with mendacity just for their own sake will ultimately be exposed and their credibility to be undermined are bound to make them go out of power.
In summary, the nature of politics requires a political leader who can tell lies or cover truth sometimes skillfully. Therefore, an effective political leader should keep a clear head on the problems of when and why they use rhetoric.