【0906G Fight 4月同心砥砺冲刺组】第一次作业 issue 167

justdoit!UID: 2533175

TOPIC: ISSUE167 - "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 it impossible for an effective political leader to tell the truth all the time? The speaker claims so, he even points out that complete honesty is not a useful virtue for a politician. To some extent I agree with the speaker's assertion, as an effective political leader, he or she cannot tell the truth all the time though honesty is also indispensable to each individual, and in some occasions in which specific information should be withheld from the public, complete forthrightness is not only unuseful but also deleterious.

It is true that honesty is necessary in order to maintain the work of the political leader and contribute to attaining the belief of the public. As long as we know, honesty is one of the several essential virtues which are indispensable in our society ,especially in the realm of politic. For instance, Barack Hussein Obama, the 44th and current president of the United Sates, as the first African American to hold the office, his honesty which is represented from his speeches make the public moved and people can trust and depend on him as their president. Simply put, without honesty, our political leader would find himself bogged down in the sea of discredit, just as the president Richard Nixon, it is the dishonesty that lead to the Watergate Scandal. Therefore, the honesty is important in the realm of the politic.

But complete honesty may possibly is unuseful, even harmful for an effective
political leader. Since the politic is just like the "game", as an effective political leader, he or she should exert the power reasonably in the first place, thus, the absolute forthrightness is naive and in some case it can give rise to sacrificing the interests of the public. For example, during the period of the Cold War, the political leader could not tell the truth all the time to the public, especially in the field of the military. So you can imagine that what the result could be if the president tell the public about the military secrets.

What is more, having recognized that in some occasions withholding information or telling a lie is better than telling truth, I think that it is necessary and even desirable for political leaders to withhold information from the public.
In order to further the public's ultimate interests and ensure the public safety and even perhaps even national security, our political leaders should compromise to keep silent instead of telling the truth all the time. Here is an example that aptly illustrate this point, in 2000, the U.S. Pentagon's missile defense system did not work because of the Y2K-related malfunction. This fact was not told to the public until the problems had been solved. So you can imagine that how terrible the mass hysteria could be if the "honest" political leaders told the truth.

To sum up, I concede that the political leader should not tell the truth all the time for the sake of the public's interests. Yet, without the essential virtue honesty ,the political leaders must end up forfeiting the political games.

同心砥砺UID: 2600324

Is it impossible for an effective political leader to tell the truth all the time? The speaker claims so, he even points out that complete honesty is not a useful virtue for a politician. To some extent I agree with the speaker's assertion, as an effective political leader, he or she cannot tell the truth all the time though honesty is also indispensable to each individual（让步处为第一段埋下伏笔）, and in some occasions in which specific information should be withheld from the public, complete forthrightness is not only unuseful(useless下同) but also deleterious.
It is true that honesty is necessary in order to maintain the work of the political leader and contribute to attaining the belief of the public. As long as we know, honesty is one of the several essential virtues which are indispensable in our society, especially in the realm of politic. For instance, Barack Hussein Obama, the 44th and current president of the United Sates, as the first African American to hold the office, his honesty which is represented from his speeches make the public moved and people can trust and depend on him as their president. Simply put, without honesty, our political leader would find himself（him？） bogged down in the sea of discredit, just as the president Richard Nixon, it is the dishonesty that lead to the Watergate Scandal. Therefore, the honesty is important in the realm of the politic.
But complete honesty may possibly（重复） is unuseful, even harmful for an effective political leader. Since the politic is just like the（a） "game", as an effective political leader, he or she should exert the power reasonably in the first place, thus, the absolute forthrightness is naive and（此处递进关系可以换个更明显的词） in some case it can give rise to sacrificing the interests of the public. For example, during the period of the Cold War, the political leader could not tell the truth all the time to the public, especially in the field of the military. So you can imagine that what the result could be if the president tell（tells or told） the public about the military secrets.
What is more, having recognized that in some occasions withholding information or telling a lie（lying） is better than telling truth, I think that it is necessary and even desirable for political leaders to withhold information from the public.
In order to further the public's ultimate interests and ensure the public safety and perhaps even national security, our political leaders should compromise（逻辑有点不对，compromise是妥协，表示双方折中的办法，而leader只是单方面决定，在沉默和说实话两者选其一，建议alternative） to keep silent instead of telling the truth all the time. Here is an example that aptly illustrate（s） this point, in 2000, the U.S. Pentagon's missile defense system did not work because of the Y2K-related malfunction. This fact was not told to the public until the problems had been solved. So you can imagine that how terrible the mass hysteria could be if the "honest" political leaders told the truth.（这个例子最好加一点相关背景，否则不能很好地支持necessary and even desirable,只能再一次支持第一个分论点）
To sum up, I concede（？不情愿的承认） that the political leader should not tell the truth all the time for the sake of the public's interests. Yet, without the essential virtue honesty, the political leaders must end up forfeiting(多余或者是误用) the political games.（结尾感觉有点逻辑问题，但又不好说，像是和全文支持隐藏真相的观点有抵触；可能是在几个词的使用上有点问题concede、yet，抑或是两部分可以颠倒一下）
总体感觉：除了最后一段，看完后给人一种比较清晰的论证思路

justdoit!UID: 2533175

2# 同心砥砺

谢谢啦！第三段在logic上还不太还处理，主要还是写不出东西