[Neurons] 2016 "Neurons" #51 Confessing Politicians

Sun Oct 30 16:51:01 EDT 2016

From: L. Michael Hall

2016 "Neurons" Meta Reflections - #51

October 31, 2016

CONFESSING POLITICIANS

Yes I know that the above title is an oxymoron- a self-contradictory
statement.  When do politicians ever confess?  When they do-we have an
extremely newsworthy event on our hands!  That's just about true whenever a
politician confesses just about anything!  Normally for them, confession is
a bad word, a bad idea, and political suicide.  Or so they think.  So they
don't.  Instead they hide, they cover-up, the divert, they blame-they do
anything and everything but take responsibility for mis-behaviors or actions
that indicate corruption or criminal mis-deeds.

In American politics, the biggest case in recent history was Watergate and
Richard Nixon.  The biggest problem in that instance was the cover-up, not
the crime.  The crime amount to petty thief, a break-in at the democratic
headquarters, a stupid action concocted by Libby and which didn't really
amount to anything.  But the cover-up, the lying, the 18-minutes audio-tape
erased- that was what Congress set out to impeach Nixon for and so he was
forced to resign in humiliation.  But did he ever confess or own up to it?
No.

Then there was Bill Clinton and his cover-ups and lies about "that woman"
that he "didn't have sex with," which he eventually admitted that he did.
So he was impeached.  His lost his license to practice law, but just a
couple votes saved him so he was able to stay in office, although
tremendously weakened as president.  Again, the big thing was the lies and
cover-up, not the actions.  Martha Stewart experienced a similar thing.
There was some insider trading, but what sent her to prison was the lying,
the cover-ups.

Now we have the same thing with Hillary Clinton.  Swearing she did not lie
to the FBI over and over and over, but James Comey the head of the FBI
admitted that she did.  Swearing that she did not send out sensitive top
secret information on the emails, but the FBI director said that she did.
Lying about the death of the Ambassador in Libya and the deaths of the
others in Benghazi by saying that it was due to a video and yet
simultaneously telling the truth (that it was a terrorist attack) to her
daughter and the President of Egypt, she then later dismissed it, "What
difference does it now make?"  Now this week we have another FBI
investigation of her on another matter about classified materials being on
other people's servers, and it looks like more cover-ups.

I would think that they would learn, well, I always hope that they will
learn.  But it seems to be a particular blind spot for politicians and one
that nearly all politicians face.  The paradox is that in the USA, the
American people are especially forgiving and will forgive if there is simply
an acknowledgment and request.  We all know human fallibility- we make
mistakes.  That's inevitable.  There's no escape from that.  And with a
confession that acknowledges the mistake, that comforts us that the person
understands and has a new consciousness about it and so will probably not
repeat the same mistake.

This is what's missing when a person covers-up.  How do we know that the
person understands and will work to avoid the mistake next time?  We don't.
And that's the problem.  Conversely, with a confession, what we get from the
person is an understanding and an accountability.  The current explosion of
events in the US Presidential race brings this issue to the foreground
again.  How refreshing it would be to get a politician who is open and
vulnerable and human and who will acknowledge mistakes, simply say so, and
ask for forgiveness.

In terms of creating personal self-actualization, or the self-actualization
of a family, a group, a business, or a country-people have to get real.
They have to come out from behind themselves, behind their roles and masks
and public images.  Coming out and getting real means being open to being a
human being, vulnerable to many things, fallible in everything, limited in
resources and understanding.  It is not easy, but it is the human way.  And
when people do, then they can grow, develop compassion for others, and focus
on doing better.

It is the process of covering up that creates all sorts of other problems
and even human evils.  When a person starts covering-up and hiding their
truths and realities- they begin to lose touch with their real selves.  They
create secrets and as Virginia Satir often said, "A family is as sick as its
secrets."   As they hiding continues, people develop blind spots and with
all sorts of defense and escape mechanisms.  Eventually, they become
alienated from their real selves.

The call to have Confessing Politicians is a call for them to get real.  But
that is not only a call for them, it is for us also.  I have recently
written a book on this subject.  Get Real focuses on authenticity as the
quality that makes us healthy and human.  It enables us to be trusted, it
builds credibility, it makes relationships and collaborations possible, it
unleashes potentials, and there are many, many more benefits.

              If you're interested in more- see the newest book:

                                          Get Real!  Unleashing Your
Authenticity (2016)

 <http://www.neurosemantics.com/> www.neurosemantics.com / Products /
Neuro-Semantic Books

              if the book is not there - you can order / Trainers / Pay a
Statement

              the book is $25 ... shipping IN the USA is $6 and outside the
USA is $34.

              So    $31 or $59 ... the packages can hold as much as 3 books,
add $20 for each additional book.

L. Michael Hall, Ph.D.

               Neuro-Semantics Executive Director 

               Neuro-Semantics International

P.O. Box 8

Clifton, CO. 81520 USA                             

               1 970-523-7877 

                    Dr. Hall's email:
<mailto:meta at acsol.net\hich\af31506\dbch\af31505\loch\f31506> meta at acsol.net

    ISNS new logo

What is Neuro-Semantic NLP?

Neurons:  Get your free subscription to the weekly International \Post on
Neuro-Semantics by Dr. L. Michael Hall. Subscribe at:
wwww.neurosemantics.com

    Coaching: For world-class Coach Training - The Meta-Coaching System,
www.neurosemantics.com/metacoaching   Meta-Coach Reflections sent every
Wednesday to the group of Licensed Meta-Coaches.
www.metacoachfoundation.org  

Self-Actualization: Neuro-Semantics launched the New Human Potential
Movement in 2007, for information about this, see
<http://www.self-actualizing.org/> www.self-actualizing.org  

NSP --- Neuro-Semantic Publications: Order books from Neuro-Semantic
website,  <http://www.neurosemantics.com/> www.neurosemantics.com  click on
Products and Services and then the Catalogue of books.  Order via paypal.  

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://pairlist8.pair.net/pipermail/neurons/attachments/20161030/9b84389e/attachment-0001.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image001.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 10627 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <https://pairlist8.pair.net/pipermail/neurons/attachments/20161030/9b84389e/attachment-0001.jpg>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image002.png
Type: image/png
Size: 319017 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <https://pairlist8.pair.net/pipermail/neurons/attachments/20161030/9b84389e/attachment-0001.png>