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“Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind. ” — Dr. Seuss

This quote took me some time to comprehend when I first read it as a kid of 11. A person’s most significant change in becoming an adult happens when you’re 11. Trusting people and being yourself is very scary, considering our drive to be liked.

Being honest, truthful and sincere are personality traits usually found in children under the age of 11. As the world becomes more real, kids learn the benefits of lying and being evasive and the pitfalls of telling the truth. People keeping their integrity into adulthood are rarely held in high esteem.

Ralph Nader is the first person I think of when truthfulness is tantamount. Nader has championed changes for the good of all, while corporations complained of the high cost of integrity.

Why is Nader’s example important to Americans? Because in these times of war, record-breaking corporate profits and government corruption, Americans should be outraged at the absence of truthful leaders. With the primaries beginning, now is our chance to choose the candidate who isn’t afraid to be honest.

An honest politician? There is no such thing.

How would we know an honest person from a good liar? Americans have chosen very gifted liars as the leaders of our nation for the last 40 years. In fact, America hasn’t had many who cared about being honest. So why should we look for honesty now? Will Americans support a truthful candidate, or will they back someone who only seems to be trustworthy?

I’ve been researching the candidates to see who really knows which issue is important enough to be at the top of the list. It’s been disturbing to find out that all of them have no idea.

The issues have been arranged and rearranged by each candidate. One chooses the war in the Middle East, while another chooses greenhouse gases, while yet another chooses the schism between the rich and poor. All of these issues are worthy of being at the top, but the reality of what’s most important hasn’t crossed anyone’s lips — yet.

Our country was founded by a group of men with high ideals and questionable honesty. Nonetheless, they came up with a Constitution that was a revelation to other nations. They created rules of government guided by value for human life. They left room for improvement — an honest realization of the need to change for the better for all Americans, not just a select few. The Bill of Rights is a laundry list of human rights upheld staunchly until the turn of the 21st century.

Our country’s Constitution and Bill of Rights have been trounced on and torn to shreds. Repealing detrimental legislation affecting these two documents will lead the way to bettering our country — and the rest of the world.

That’s the truth.