Due Diligence, Gaining Credibility~

Credibility is vital to the cause of liberty. A person’s word, like it or not, remains their bond and the clearest reflection of their character. It doesn’t take but a limited pattern of deception for others to lose trust in anything that person might offer as supposed fact in the future.

If our goal is to have elected representatives and a government that is transparent, honest and filled with integrity we have to insist upon and ourselves reflect those same characteristics. And for that to happen we must take the time required – and put in the effort it takes – to do our due diligence.

What does that mean? It means we are willing to do exactly what we are asking those who would represent us and our interests to also do. We explore our motives should we decide run for public office. We don’t become obligated to individuals or groups who would want to “sway,” or use, our position to advance their agenda.
It also means that when we endorse or support a candidate we do so because we believe that person is BEST for the job. It’s never prudent to place our credibility at stake because you were in a fraternity together, or know their cousin and his pet schnauzer.

I recently made a commitment to myself (and my family) that outside the President of the United States, I would never vote for – or support – a candidate for any race that I have not personally met and scrutinized.
It means information has to be carefully vetted before we mindlessly blast it out into the web-o-sphere. That’s especially true if we haven’t checked out information and decide to forward it because it reinforces our own position or agenda. Circulating inflammatory information that is untrue or only partially accurate does no one’s cause any good.

We all know how easy it is today to sit in the comfort of our homes, or at some coffee shop table, and fill the internet with all form of rumor and supposition that can be made to sound like fact – when it’s really not even close to truth.
Not only is any circulated untruth cause for real concern, to me it can prove immoral, even seriously evil, especially when the lie or misstatement grows as it is passed along. One only need be on the receiving end of a vicious smear campaign filled with utter falsehoods and misrepresentations to understand the impact such garbage can have in a life, or any number of lives for that matter.