For some time now, we have all had a front-row seat in watching the political leadership of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate. The most recent activity, dealing with the snubbing of the SWO Constitution by not removing a Councilman for a drug-use violation, and the Administrative activity of the past year is what got me thinking about our individual responsibilities to speak out with courage and moral clarity.
The twisting and turning of facts by the Chairman and his followers on Council has corrupted the flow of facts to the Tribal members. The misinformation is one of the reasons I started this blog.
As a student of history, I came across a few readings on the rise and fall of the Third Reich. One of the propaganda techniques used by that regime was “the big lie.” The basis of which is that if you make an incorrect statement, no matter how outrageous it is and repeat it often enough, some people will believe it.
“…that in the big lie there is always a certain force of credibility; because the broad masses of a nation are always more easily corrupted in the deeper strata of their emotional nature than consciously or voluntarily; and thus in the primitive simplicity of their minds they more readily fall victims to the big lie than the small lie, since they themselves often tell small lies in little matters but would be ashamed to resort to large-scale falsehoods. It would never come into their heads to fabricate colossal untruths, and they would not believe that others could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously. Even though the facts which prove this to be so may be brought clearly to their minds, they will still doubt and waver and will continue to think that there may be some other explanation. For the grossly impudent lie always leaves traces behind it, even after it has been nailed down, a fact which is known to all expert liars in this world and to all who conspire together in the art of lying.” —Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf, vol. I, ch. X.
We don’t have to like our Politicians, either as a person or as a politician. Our leadership positions have been cheapened with self-service activity and misinformation. Out of respect for the community that they represent, they do owe us ethical and honest decisions. They owe us the facts, the critical reasoning and documentation behind the decisions they make on our behalf.
The continuing misinformation being distributed by our Chairman in his monthly reports to Council, the most recent Tribal Council decisions and their inability to be honest in daily activity are examples of the big lie. Those who contribute to it are doing it intentionally for their own personal gain.
No individual person can end this perpetual big lie and political strategy that we are caught in, it is going to take the courage of the community to come together and make it right.
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