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Americans indifferent to political liars but admonish liars in the food industry

Hello. I’m an American. Apparently, it’s okay to lie to me about taxes, policies, wars, health care and where the president was born. But if you lie to me about food, by all the power in the God you believe in, I will have my revenge.

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Sound ridiculous? It is, and so are you. Because this is what every American has to say to themselves everyday they look in a mirror.

Let’s start from the top. Politicians are liars. But this is something we know. Last month when Anderson Cooper ripped Democrat Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz apart for falsely quoting the L.A. Times, people were pretty entertained.

Or people who watch the news were entertained. Or people who watch the news and disagree with the Florida Representative were pretty entertained.

When she was called out for misquoting the L.A. Times in a fundraising email against Romney, she said that misquoting didn’t matter, what mattered was that people got the right message. Her message. Which was full of lies.

I’m going to sidestep the issue of how most Americans don’t mind if a politician is lying as long as they line up party-wise, or how too many Americans are oblivious to a candidate’s actual stance because of the web of lies that everyone in government seems to be spreading, and save that for another column.

Right now, I’m going to focus on why America thinks that politicians lying is perfectly okay. Let’s take two examples. Rep. Debbie Schultz and Nutella.

You know what happened to Representative Schultz for being a liar? She got torn apart by Anderson Cooper. You know what else? Nothing.

That financial campaign she worked on that was powered by false information and misquotes most likely brought in quite a bit of money for her party.

No one really cares if she lied. She was only embarrassed, and I have had far worse punishments in class for being late than she had for lying officially.

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The L.A. Times reports, “Politicians seem to lie seamlessly and it only becomes an issue for the majority of Americans who fail to research actual claims when there is an embarrassing moment on TV.’”
A quote I just completely made up and was said by no one except me.

This is a pretty dead horse though, so I will move on the newer part of my point. Nutella.
Nutella is delicious. If you don’t like Nutella, you should really see a doctor because there is something wrong with your taste buds. Hazelnut chocolate spread? Yes, please!

But Nutella isn’t running for office, nor have they been elected to represent the people of the state of deliciousness (even though I would vote for them.) They are just a food brand. And America loves food.

Lewis Black has a comedy sketch where he talks about Nutella. Several years back, they claimed that Nutella was healthy for breakfast.

This is where Lewis Black makes the same comparison I am making.

Who actually believed that a chocolate spread that tastes so good was actually good for you? Who actually believes that a presidential candidate will do what they promised they would?

Apparently, quite a number of people believed that. Obama responded to this in a speech that the change he promised was in the heart and mind of each individual American.

What he said doesn’t surprise me. The fact that people thought he would keep his word on everything, does.

So maybe some people actually thought hazelnut chocolate spread was healthy and were shocked to find out later that they had gained 50 pounds and now had a problem with cholesterol.

This must have been someone’s story because they sued Nutella for lying. And won.

What I take away from this is that food better be totally truthful with Americans. We care far too much about food to let a product lie to us.

But politics? How this country works? Meh, who cares about a people’s representative lying — it’s not like it’s our breakfast food or something!

Sarah Romer is a senior electrical engineering major. Her column appears Thursdays in the Collegian. Letters and feedback can be sent to letters@collegian.com.

 

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