Why tell people the truth when they prefer beautiful lies?   A media which vaunts visuals over evidence is convinced the public is more than willing to forget unpalatable facts, while our political class exploits the lesson.  In the first years of the Bush administration, public relations officials often extolled their capacity to create Òtheir own realityÓ Ð how else could the majority of Americans believe that Al Qaeda and Saddam HusseinÕs government, two groups dedicated to annihilating each other, worked as a team to produce the horrors of 9/11?

        Blithe denial of reality is now a national force. Here are three examples:

Drug Advertising

        More than one patient has come to me saying, ÒAll I want is a pill which makes me happy, makes me lose weight, and causes no side effects.Ó  Drug and device consistently provide the message there is a technical fix out there for almost every ill, and that no personal or public responsibility need be taken to prevent. ÒOnlyÓ two thirds of the nation is officially overweight, and ÒonlyÓ one third of Americans are expected to become diabetic. 

        Why spend money for programs getting people to walk to work, use mass transit, or discover their neighborhoods as they make themselves healthy, when there are fabulous profits to be made from pills?  Watching TV drug ads is an experience like watching Salem cigarette ads of the 1970Õs Ð each puff propels you into a glorious, primeval forest.  

        Drug side effects appear as unreadable sidebars.  Minor  complications like death and dementia are instead left to conversations where you should Ò ask your doctor,Ó who is so harried and bent down by insurance companies and pharmacy benefit managers she will predictably prescribe the damn thing just to get you out of the office.

        Melody PetersenÕs book ÒOur Daily MedsÓ describes how drug advertising now extends to childrenÕs cereals Òand special sessionsÓ at Rotary clubs. There is no place to hide.   Expect more Vioxx and Fen-phen style disasters; European countries generally ban all consumer drug ads.

Wage Wars, Cut Taxes, and YouÕll Balance the Budget

        Since southwest Florida is a national leader in foreclosures, one might expect some clarifying debate about Federal spending, but debts that destroy individuals, families, and national economies apparently cannot ever affect the national government.  

        Vice President Cheney proudly pointed out that President Reagan showed Òdeficits donÕt matter.Ó  The conflict in Iraq will only cost $3 trillion if it stopped tomorrow, paid for with tax cuts from the party of Òfiscal responsibility.Ó  The Federal Budget deficit which has ÒsurgedÓ far more than our ÒsuccessÓ in Iraq, does not include long term payments for Social Security or Medicare, while the Treasury reports that two thirds of American businesses pay no Federal tax whatsoever.

        If you donÕt pay your bills, you go bankrupt.  Not the Feds.  The trade deficit has Òmarkedly declinedÓ to ÒonlyÓ eight hundred billion dollars a year, while a falling dollar help raise gasoline prices.  Talk of cutting taxes under such brutal conditions is tantamount to requesting banana republic status Ð didnÕt many defaulting Latin countries in the 1980Õs have debts smaller than ours?   Watch the campaign ads over the next three months, and youÕll wonder whoÕs delusional.

Drill Your Way to Energy Independence

        Americans use about three times the energy per person as Germans and Danes, whose Òsunny landsÓ now provide solar power for a fifth of their electricity.  But why spend money on conservation, solar or wind power, when you can drill in the Gulf! 

        Does it matter the energy produced will likely  not be available for a decade, and only boost national production by half of 1%?  Does it matter it threatens beach tourism - a staple of the Sunshine State economy, or that drilling hastens global warming that will put our homes under water? 

        The British government recently produced a major study of the Òunpredictable disastersÓ that could lead to national crises.  Terrorism, particularly attacks on London transit, stood high on the list.  Yet the items considered most dangerous was a potential flu pandemic, estimated to kill anywhere from 50,000 to a half million people, followed second by coastal erosion caused by global warming.

        Beautiful lies are easy to accept. We love fantasy, and sometimes lies prove true. There may be a pill out there that will prevent all flu pandemics, or another that will make you happy and lose weight without side effects.  Unfortunately, denial of reality cannot work in the end.  People die, economies crumble, and soldiers disappear in countries Americans cannot find on the map.  A nation which spends twice as much money per person on health care to produce the health statistics of Lithuania and Cuba, demands we ask a lot of questions about what it does and why.  A real debate on national health, not just health care, would be one place to start.

Dr. Matthew Edlund practices sleep medicine and psychiatry in Sarasota.  His new book, Designed To Last, is available online. He can be reached at 365-4308 and via his Web site at doctoredlund.com.