POLITICAL SMOKE: BLACK, WHITE, SHADES OF GRAY

posted by Michael Chihak

The late, great political cartoonist Jeff MacNelly, who drew the “Shoe” comic strip, once said of his chosen profession, quote, "when I first started out in journalism, i was going to be a one-man truth squad. But as time went on, my hair turned gray, and so did the truth."

Indeed, the truth is shades of gray rather than the black and white we would have it be. Or that our political leaders like to think it is.

Take the big wildfires that raced through nearly 1 million acres of Arizona's beauty in the last two and a half months.

Some politicians, in full throat, say it was environmentalists who torched the state, as if they had proof that a group of greens had walked through the forests flicking lit matches into the pine straw.

On the other side, another gaggle of politicians at the same decibel level blames businesses for causing it all by spewing carbon and other poisons into the atmosphere and raising temperatures.

Who's right and who's wrong? Both, as it turns out. The issues are much more complex than what they say.

Yet we're led to think in black and white, right and wrong, and little gets done to bring about consensus and make progress.

Where’s the leadership? Where are the politicians who will take charge and lead us where we ought to go rather than playing to their bases of support?

Coming to consensus is hard work, much harder than firing off a few zingers about their opponents not meeting the desires of the American people.

We’re seeing that in almost every realm of public governance, whether it’s coming to terms with the country’s fiscal complexities or seeking ways to protect people’s lives and livelihoods and at the same time preserve the environment.

Of course, in today’s media frenzy, politicians find the sound bite more easily crafted than the solution.

People protecting owls are made out to be tree-hugging hippies. People running businesses are labeled as evildoers in suits.

The truth? It’s lost in the gray clouds of mingling black and white smoke.