AN ODE TO PLAIN SPEECH

"Once upon a time in America, there were public figures like Barry Goldwater. He was a rock-ribbed conservative Republican. I disagreed with almost all of his political positions and could never have voted for him....

Above all his other qualities, I miss Goldwater's extraordinary penchant for straight talk. He was one of those old-fashioned Americans who absolutely believed that our freedom of speech was there to be used. He understood that clear, declarative sentences, unencumbered by evasive qualifiers and legalese, were the sinewy muscles of our democracy, and like muscles, they grew flabby and weak if they were not used. In his long career (five terms in the U.S. Senate), Goldwater always said what he believed. He didn't submit to the slippery guidance of media consultants, who have turned so many of today's politicians into ciphers. He spoke his mind, even when his blunt opposition to the prevailing New Deal orthodoxies brought forth mockery.

In 1964, when accepting the Republican nomination for president, he spoke a few lines that doomed his candidacy: "I would remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice! And let me remind you also that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue." More than a few people noted that such words could have been uttered by Malcolm X, that other plain-spoken American. Goldwater lost the election in a landslide.

The result changed our politics. The motto became "safety first." Talking plainly became a kind of gaffe, and gaffes could cause defeat. Political discourse got tamer, slicker, more controlled. But Goldwater did not join in the blanding of America. When Richard Nixon, a fellow Republican, was dodging and dissembling during the Watergate scandal, Goldwater said: "Nixon should get his ass out of the White House today." When the country was addled by the debate over gays in the military, Goldwater said: "You don't need to be straight to fight and die for your country. You just need to shoot straight."....

Now we live in a country where the collective lack of courage has infected the language itself. We don't demand honesty and accountability from our leaders; not surprisingly, our leaders conclude that we can't handle the truth. Instead of Goldwater's blunt lucidity, we get weasel words.....

Throughout our society, courage is becoming all too rare - and the deficit is of our own making. Today, more than ever, we need people with the courage to tell the plain truth.... Telling the truth, of course, can carry heavy penalties: condemnation, ostracism, slander, the end of careers. Telling the truth often requires the courage of the foot soldier, the police officer, the firefighter.... No democracy can survive if it is wormy with lies and evasions...."

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