Lying to me vs. Lying to others
Dr. A. Nonymous recently commented on the entry "Don't Lie to Me". The heart of the comment was a single question, "Were you equally appalled by the plethora of lies that Clinton voiced? Just curious." Even if I accept, for the sake of discussion, that Clinton voiced a "plethora of lies" we are still left without any leads as to which statements the doctor is referring to as "equally appall[ing]". As such, I will assume that the good doctor was implicitly referring to the most popular of Clinton's class-four screw-ups: The Lewinski Matter.
The short answer to the question is, "No". I was appalled in both instances but not equally. No American politician has any business lying to any of the people he has been granted the privilege to represent. This is especially so for a leader in a position of great prominence such as the US President. Even if we allow a President some leeway for the "little white lies" of diplomacy, the President still has a responsibility to avoid even the appearance of impropriety because, as the face of America to the World, his indiscretions give the whole country a black eye. By lying, Clinton did something shameful and appalling. He deserved his impeachment.
Having said that, I will observe that there is a very important difference between Clinton's statements and Bush's statements when we consider the "to Me" part of "Don't Lie to Me". The scandal that enveloped former President Clinton was a sex scandal. Unless your name is Hillary, your interest in the matter was voyeuristic at best. When Mr. Clinton lied about the matter, he lied to Hillary and a bunch of slack-jawed peepers more interested in titillation than Presidential integrity. Few, if any, Americans I know were real parties in interest regarding the President receiving oral sex. As such, I (like most people having a modicum of pride) ignored the matter almost entirely: I didn't then and don't now consider Mr. Clinton's lies to have been directed to me… Mr. Clinton lied, but he didn't lie to me or anyone I know.
On the other hand, questions of wiretapping, domestic spying, and failure to observe the authority of the FISA court are matters of national import that concern every American. As such, every American is a real party in interest and President Bush's remarks affected every American. Bush's lies were misrepresentations targeted to deceive every single one of us: Mr Bush didn't just lie, he lied to me and everyone I know.
The short answer to the question is, "No". I was appalled in both instances but not equally. No American politician has any business lying to any of the people he has been granted the privilege to represent. This is especially so for a leader in a position of great prominence such as the US President. Even if we allow a President some leeway for the "little white lies" of diplomacy, the President still has a responsibility to avoid even the appearance of impropriety because, as the face of America to the World, his indiscretions give the whole country a black eye. By lying, Clinton did something shameful and appalling. He deserved his impeachment.
Having said that, I will observe that there is a very important difference between Clinton's statements and Bush's statements when we consider the "to Me" part of "Don't Lie to Me". The scandal that enveloped former President Clinton was a sex scandal. Unless your name is Hillary, your interest in the matter was voyeuristic at best. When Mr. Clinton lied about the matter, he lied to Hillary and a bunch of slack-jawed peepers more interested in titillation than Presidential integrity. Few, if any, Americans I know were real parties in interest regarding the President receiving oral sex. As such, I (like most people having a modicum of pride) ignored the matter almost entirely: I didn't then and don't now consider Mr. Clinton's lies to have been directed to me… Mr. Clinton lied, but he didn't lie to me or anyone I know.
On the other hand, questions of wiretapping, domestic spying, and failure to observe the authority of the FISA court are matters of national import that concern every American. As such, every American is a real party in interest and President Bush's remarks affected every American. Bush's lies were misrepresentations targeted to deceive every single one of us: Mr Bush didn't just lie, he lied to me and everyone I know.
posted by Minotaur at 4:03 PM
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