Euphemisms, Lies, and Leaders

Voilà, a sampling of rhetoric to gloss over Senator Obama's crafty, calculated, and utterly impolitic MOVE TO THE CENTER.

'The conversation is rising about what the left should properly do when the presumptive nominee appears to emphasize his moderate side...'

'Senator Obama is a nuanced, sophisticated speaker.'

'He's a good politician. He's doing all he can to make sure people know he would govern as a post-partisan moderate.'

'He’s being proactive by taking centrist stances on issues that are important to a lot of people in this country...Obama is doing what he has to do in order to win.'

What tripe.

I'm getting downright fatigued with the unscrupulous manipulation of language to disguise actions by politicians that are entirely self-serving and ineffably stupid.

Let's just speak plainly. The Senator from Illinois has lied. Either he lied when he laid out his stances on public campaign financing, wiretapping, the death penalty, free trade, diplomacy, immunity for telecoms, handguns, the 'surge', and more---or he's lying now.

I have two problems with that.
1.How am I to impress on my teenagers the dishonor brought to their lives by lying when our would-be leaders spew lies like stock in trade?
2.How can I vote for someone who lies, bold-faced and with impunity?

There's another thing I teach my children: when you compete in any venue, do it with honor. Win, but win with honor. Without it, any win will be empty and will do justice to no one. Witness the 'win' to which we've been subjected these last, long eight years. We are all the poorer, even those with lots more in the bank.

Is it too much to ask that our leaders possess an iota of integrity?
Can we not have a win with even the outward perception of honor?