(Audio above: Cliff Sims interviews Andy Andrews on Yellowhammer Radio)
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Alabamian and New York Times best-selling author Andy Andrews was a guest on Wednesday’s Yellowhammer Radio with Cliff Sims, talking about his 2012 book How Do You Kill 11 Million People?.
Andrews said the idea for the book came to him after he set out to discover how the Nazis were able to round up and ruthlessly murder 11 million Jews during the WWII Holocaust.
“How in the world do you get 11 million people… to put themselves on trains with relatively few Nazi guards?” Andrews found himself asking after watching a Holocaust documentary.
“The answer to that is very easy,” Andrews discovered, “you lie to them.”
Sims was reminded of the book — and its simple, but profound idea that the truth really matters — after watching a recent interview with Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV). During the 2012 presidential election, Reid, who was then Senate Majority Leader, claimed from the mic on the Senate floor that Republican Mitt Romney had not paid any taxes. The statement was, of course, untrue, but was trumpeted by the media. When asked by CNN’s Dana Bash if he regretted the lie, Reid grinned and said, “Romney didn’t win, did he?”
Sims pointed out that the culture of politics in America has turned into one that justifies, encourages, even expects half-truths, lies, and intrigue, rather than honesty.
“It’s become so accepted that our politicians lie to us,” he said. “Obama lies about his position on gay marriage. Hillary lies about her emails. Our governor lies that he’s not going to raise our taxes. Harry Reid lies about Mitt Romney not paying taxes. How do we get back to the point in our culture that the truth really really matters, that we expect our politicians to tell us the truth?”
“I think there’s been a devaluing of the truth,” Andrews answered. “I think we need to understand how important the truth really is.”
“[Lying] damages not just the fabric of our country, but it damages our children, their future, our families.”
Later in the interview, Sims asked Andrews which historical leaders have told the truth.
“Ronald Reagan told the truth,” Andrews said, “Abraham Lincoln told the truth, George Washington seems to have told the truth, although I don’t think the cherry tree story was reality.”
“You’ll find leaders tell the truth,” Andrews continued, “as a matter of their own character, but also as a matter of expanding the economy, expanding our ability for influence in the world, and for some… back then — even as close to our time as Ronald Reagan — you find somebody that tells the truth, and he knows people aren’t going to like it, but he is able to tell the truth and then explain why we need to adhere to that.”
Listen to the entire must-hear interview in the clip above.
Yellowhammer Radio airs every weekday from 12-1 p.m. and can be streamed live on the show’s flagship station, Superstation 101.1, WYDE.
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— Elizabeth BeShears (@LizEBeesh) January 21, 2015
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