Lying Liars…
We have been hearing some real whoppers here lately… You know the ones I mean… For instance, “if you like your plan, you can keep your plan”. Or how ‘bout, “Benghazi happened because of some horrible video”. And then there was “My helicopter was hit by an RPG”. Last, but far from least, “I never had sex with that woman”.
Now these are out and out lies and are easily identified as such. And so those who mouthed these untruths are, in fact, liars. We are now well aware that Obama knew that people would lose their plans… Hillary knew the true reasons behind Benghazi… Brian Williams knew he did not get hit by an RPG… And everybody but everybody knew Clinton had sex with anybody that would let him… Liars all…
But when is a lie not a lie? Because there are lots of other ways to deceive people that do not involve an actual lie. And they sound good but, when analyzed, are nothing less than deliberate intentions to misinform. Do they qualify as lies?
For instance when one of our local legislators continually calls for “additional revenue” it sounds somewhat innocuous. But what he really means is that he wants to raise taxes. And when he says he needs “new sources of revenue” it means that he wants to find some new ways to tax you.
But this legislator – and you all know who he is – will never say “raise taxes” or “new taxes” because he knows that people immediately understand that he is putting his hands in their pockets. So he avoids using the “T” word and substitutes “revenue”. It gets him to the same place but it sounds so much better, you see. Maybe not a lie but certainly intentionally confusing.
So how the heck do you determine if a politician is lying or merely misleading? Well, it’s not too hard, actually… just look and see if his lips are moving….
Because if they are, he is…
Dick Pilling, Chair
