• 
• 

Published on April 3, 2008

The acquittal triggered the massive four-day riots that became one of the most intense civil disturbances in US history, with nearly US$1 billion (Bt31.5 billion)in damage, 53 deaths, 2,383 injuries, more than 7,000 fire responses, and 3,100 businesses damaged. Rodney King pleaded frantically, "People, I just want to say, you know, can we all get along? Can we get along? We can all get along. I mean, we're all stuck here for a while. Let's try to work it out."

At that time his plea went unheard. People did not attach much weight to the words of this black man who had no social standing whatsoever, despite the fact that his words were utterly sincere.

But when President Clinton gave the carefully crafted statement, "I did not have sex with that woman", on national TV in 1998 over his relationship with Monica Lewinsky, it made an incredible, unintended impact. After that statement, reports showed oral sex among teenagers and younger children increased dramatically. When caught, these youngsters gave the same excuse: "Oral sex is NOT sex."

Back in 1952, Richard Nixon gave his famous "Checkers Speech", broadcast nationwide, after he was accused of accepting US$18,000 in illegal campaign contributions shortly after he was nominated the Republican running mate on Dwight Eisenhower's presidential ticket. The speech was so powerful, it succeeded in turning things around for him. Eisenhower and Nixon went on to win the election by a landslide; Eisenhower became the 34th president and Nixon his vice president.

Fast forward to March 2008: presidential candidate Hilary Clinton was asked on "60 Minutes" about Barack Obama's faith, whether she believed if Senator Obama was a Muslim. She replied, "No, no. As far as I know." The "As far as I know" resonated loudly among her supporters and distracters alike. These few words managed to change a few minds, moving them to, as well as away from, the Clinton camp.

So it should not be a surprise that when our PM, out of the blue, announced to the press a newly unearthed coup plot, it packed a punch. Like it or not, the more prominent the person, the more weight his words carry. These words did not come from just anyone; they came from the highest ranking government official of Thailand. As such, they must be taken seriously.

It boils down to accountability, the place where the buck stops. It is the most onerous aspect of the highest office of the land.

Diplomats know the power of words and they use them with utmost care and reverence. Their words are usually measured, albeit sometimes unavoidably uninformative. How can one put the best face of the country forward when one knows full well the situation back home is a mess? In such a situation, he cannot "tell it as it is", nor can he tell a lie. The solution is called "co-option" - a technique that allows a speaker or writer to choose words carefully and thoughtfully in such a way that they present a bad situation in the best possible light. The daily demonstrations in the streets would thus be described as the "maturing of our democracy".

An extraordinary brilliant diplomat once taught me that words do matter at the moment they are expressed, be they written, spoken, even implied. "We are the boss of words when they are unexpressed; once they are, words become our boss."

That just about sums it up.

Words matter because they do have ramifications. Words can kill, and they can heal. They can build you up, they can tear you down. They bring us peace, they can launch wars. They can calm the crowd, they can incite riots. They can unite and they can divide. As intangible as they are, they influence decisions. They can turn right into wrong, and wrongs into rights. They can create history, and they are history, for words have a longer life than deeds. They are, as the French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre described, "loaded pistols". Rudyard Kipling called words "the most powerful drug used by mankind".

That leads us to the issue of accountability and responsibility. Power without responsibility is the "privilege of the harlot down the ages". Politicians and journalists are the two professions that wield considerable influence over public opinion through words. That is power, and it entails responsibility. Teachers are second to and sometimes overtake parents in their influence over our future. Their responsibility, if taken seriously, is weighty beyond imagination. Leaders cannot say things flippantly, for their words can be a major factor in their downfall.

Nobody takes the rambling words of a madman (as in clinically insane) seriously because they bear absolutely no consequence. But the rest of us do not have that luxury.

That luxury is severely restricted when it comes to people of authority. When they speak, the community, the country and the world listens. Such is the power that demands enormous responsibility. Thus their words must be used judiciously. If all else fails, silence can be golden.

For all of us mortals, I say, we may give a hundred million reasons for failing to take responsibility for our own words, but not a single excuse.

Pornpimol Kanchanalak

The Nation