Keep your trap shut and tell us what we want to know!
posted by MedfordTim 06/04/2008 01:24:06 PM EST
America has many double standards. I want to talk about one which I don't understand. Maybe brighter minds can enlighten me.
What spurred me was the reaction to Scott McClellan's book. Not that there was anything unusual or unexpected, but it did provide a current framing for a possible discussion for how we as a society look upon people who "spill beans." They are called rats, squealers, narcs, betrayers, informants, snitches, and tattletales. Scorn is heaped upon them. They are shunned by all.
But aren't we Americans given horribly mixed messages throughout our lives? Don't we hold truth-telling in esteem? Does it come down to "minding your own business?"
Here's an early life example. (People with siblings will immediately relate, single children - try to keep up.) Little sibling runs to parent crying and accuses older sibling of hitting. Parent, tired of having heard it a million times before, berates the little one and says "Don't be a tattletale!" Repeatedly, we are admonished for telling on our siblings or friends. So we learn to not say anything, not see anything.
Same parent, hears crash in other room, rushes in to find prized trophy from Junior High football in pieces on the floor. "Okay," he says, "who did this?" The siblings, having been told repeatedly not to snitch, clam up. Parent increases volume and severity of threats in reprisal for withholding information, usually until one breaks down and tells on the other. Then, the squealer watches as the other gets punished and finds themselves being praised for telling the truth. What lesson does the little rat learn? Will 'trust' be an issue in the other sibling's later life?
So, should people be shunned for shedding the light on wrongdoing? Should we raise our kids to tell the truth or keep incriminating information to themselves? Is it fair to keep confusing generation after generation by making them try to follow BOTH directives? Don't be a snitch but tell me who did it. Huh?
Every law enforcement person from a beat cop to the FBI and CIA Directors will tell you that they would not be able to function worth a damn without informants. They work their asses off making deals with all sorts of unsavory characters, letting them get away with crimes if need be, all in the quest for information. If all of their adversaries kept quiet, that well would dry up. Would we be proud that all those people learned the lesson of "Don't squeal" growing up and were sticking to it? Is it a fair trade-off for high unsolved crime rates?
Good reporters have the same situation. There would be very little news if there were no leaks. In fact, if the lesson of "keep it to yourself" were ingrained deep enough, there would be no news industry whatsoever. Entertainment magazines and TV shows based on gossip would disappear.
How do we reconcile these two messages while retaining a shred of credibility? Can we? Is there a line where it is okay to cross from silent to snitch? Who decides? Only figures of authority? Is it kosher to threaten a multi-year sentence to get someone to go against their own moral code?
What would Jesus do?
