Here's a lengthy passage from the book for your consideration...
Like a lot of Canadians, the news media are totally ambivalent, even hypocritical, about honesty in politics. They say they want honest politicians, but if they find one who actually says what he means, they turn on him. They patronize him, sneering that he may deserve high marks for candour, but none for common sense.... No political party ever says in detail what they will do about government overspending, because the truth will cost them the support of voters.I'm interested to read any comments you may have.
The public, I'm convinced, don't want their politicians to tell them what they're really going to do. They've heard all the talk about deficits and spending cutbacks. They know that, when the election is over, there are going to be cuts. They know that whoever is elected will have no choice. But they don't want politicians telling them there will be cuts, making them face the issues, and forcing them to participate and to take responsibility for what will happen. They want the politicians to take all the responsibility. They want us to deceive them. Then, when we get elected and have to make cutbacks a few months later, the public can feel free to be outraged, to denounce deceitful politicians, and to claim we lied to them and cheated them.
The public doesn't want, won't accept, and will not support honest, forthright, and truthful politicians. They love to look down on politicians for not being truthful and straightforward. This is the underlying hypocrisy of Canadian politics and it is fed by the news media, who understand perfectly well that they are agents for the destruction of trust and candour in public life ('No Holds Barred: My Life in Politics', John C. Crosbie, pp. 304-5).
