Three Lies
Compiled by a friend of mine:
"On May 22, I stated in very specific terms and I state again to every one
of you listening tonight these facts - I had no prior knowledge of the
Watergate break-in; I neither took part in nor knew about any of the
subsequent cover-up activities; I neither authorized nor encouraged
subordinates to engage in illegal or improper campaign tactics. That was and
that is the simple truth." -Richard M. Nixon, August 15, 1973
"I never had sex with that woman - Ms Lowinski" Bill Clinton, Apr, 1996
"Now, by the way, any time you hear the United States government talking
about wiretap, it requires - a wiretap requires a court order. Nothing has
changed, by the way. When we're talking about chasing down terrorists, we're
talking about getting a court order before we do so. It's important for our
fellow citizens to understand, when you think Patriot Act, constitutional
guarantees are in place when it comes to doing what is necessary to protect
our homeland, because: we value the Constitution." -George W. Bush, April
20, 2004
Which ones do you think does the most damage to our liberty and trust in our
leadership?
"On May 22, I stated in very specific terms and I state again to every one
of you listening tonight these facts - I had no prior knowledge of the
Watergate break-in; I neither took part in nor knew about any of the
subsequent cover-up activities; I neither authorized nor encouraged
subordinates to engage in illegal or improper campaign tactics. That was and
that is the simple truth." -Richard M. Nixon, August 15, 1973
"I never had sex with that woman - Ms Lowinski" Bill Clinton, Apr, 1996
"Now, by the way, any time you hear the United States government talking
about wiretap, it requires - a wiretap requires a court order. Nothing has
changed, by the way. When we're talking about chasing down terrorists, we're
talking about getting a court order before we do so. It's important for our
fellow citizens to understand, when you think Patriot Act, constitutional
guarantees are in place when it comes to doing what is necessary to protect
our homeland, because: we value the Constitution." -George W. Bush, April
20, 2004
Which ones do you think does the most damage to our liberty and trust in our
leadership?
posted by R @ 10:45 AM
4 Comments:
At 9:01 PM,
Unknown said…
Well, you seem to be asking two different questions: one about liberty and the other about trust.
So far as liberty is concerned, it would seem that the third lie would have the most direct impact, followed by the first lie. The second would not seem directly related to the issue of liberty, except as an example of how liberty might be abused.
So far as trust in leadership is concerned, from my point of view they are all three about equivalent. Lying is gravely sinful.
At 9:17 PM,
Unknown said…
Good point, Lark. Of course, the lie itself does little to damage liberty.
I suppose, though, that the spirit of the question is, "Which lie is associated with the greatest loss of liberty?"
In that sense, I should stand by my earlier remarks.
At 12:56 PM,
cvo said…
It's interesting that you included the Nixon lie in that grouping, because reporter Helen Thomas referred to Nixon at a press conference with White House Spokesman Scott McClellan and it made him very nervous. Here is the transcript of that exchange:
Q: Does the president think he should obey the law? He put his hand on the Bible twice to uphold the Constitution. Wiretapping is not legal under the circumstances without a warrant.
MR. MCCLELLAN: Well, I guess you didn't pay attention to the attorney general's hearing earlier today, because he walked through very clearly the rationale behind this program.
Q There is no rationale --
MR. MCCLELLAN: And Helen, I think you have to ask --
Q -- (inaudible) -- the law.
MR. MCCLELLAN: I think you have ask are we -- well, he's not -- are we a nation at war.
Q That's not the question.
MR. MCCLELLAN: No, that is the issue here.
Q The question is, the point is, there are means for him to go to -- get a warrant to spy on people.
MR. MCCLELLAN: Enemy surveillance is critical to waging and winning war. It's one of the traditional tools of war.
Q But he says he doesn't have running room --
MR. MCCLELLAN: The attorney general outlined very clearly today how previous administrations have used the same authority --
Q That doesn't make it legal.
MR. MCCLELLAN: -- and cited the same -- and cited the very same authority.
Q (Inaudible) -- they broke the law, that's too bad.
MR. MCCLELLAN: And we're going to continue doing everything we can --
Q You know what happened to Nixon when he broke the law.
MR. MCCLELLAN: -- within our power to protect the American people.
This is a very different circumstance, and you know that.
Q No, I don't.
-----------------------
GIVE 'EM HELL HELEN.
At 11:32 AM,
Unknown said…
Curtis, do you have audio or video of that? I'd like to see it! :^)
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