(no subject)

[sophiaserpentia]

Which Recent President Was the Most Dishonest?
Take the poll and help determine who's the biggest fibber

This summer, after critics charged President George W. Bush with making false statements about Iraq's nuclear weapons capacity in his January State of the Union address, some commentators accused him of being the most dishonest president in recent American history.

The most dishonest? Could it be? The respected neo-liberal political magazine, The Washington Monthly, asked a nominating committee of noted journalists and pundits to pick the most serious fibs, deceptions, and untruths spoken by each of the four most recent presidents.

I find it interesting that Bill Clinton, the President impeached for obstruction of justice (basically, for lying, then trying to back up the lie) has consistently been receiving the best "mendacity score." But then, most of us, conservative or liberal like, understand that lying to cover up an act of oral sex is simply on a lower plane than lying about selling arms to Iran or fabricating evidence to convince the public we need to invade Iraq.

Comments

[cruelly-kind.livejournal.com]

Trying to compare those four in terms of dishonesty is a nauseating experience.

One thing I find disturbing is that when any one president is caught in a lie, someone is bound to say, "Well, every president has lied to the people", as if that justified it.

Hmmm... I don't remember Carter ever being caught in a lie, but I was pretty stoned most of the time he was president.

[lassiter.livejournal.com]

In Reagan's case, there appears to even be some doubt that he was ever aware he was actually president. He may well have thought he was starring in a movie that was taking an unusually long time in production.
Are memorized lines in a play "lies," exactly? I seriously doubt Reagan would have been found mentally fit to stand trial if he had been a criminal defendant, even during his first term.

[halfempty.livejournal.com]

...and lying about one thing or another is on a lower plane than being honest about doing horrible things. All of the recent presidents fucked the world and it's people in innumerable ways. That's the real problem... Lying and misdirection are simply background truths.

Anyway, George II is discovering that the masses don't really need to be lied to. They've been socialized so well, they'll support him anyway. As long as he invokes God and country, that is. Sheep.

[lassiter.livejournal.com]

I'd have to agree there. Plus, aside from published quotes, I suppose actual cover-ups (the "magic bullet," Watergate, October Surprise, contra cocaine, Vince Foster, and Bush's ties to the bin Laden family) also count as lies. So add another heaping shovelful to all of them. B-/

[lassiter.livejournal.com]

You're being awfully generous. :)

But actually, I was thinking of Warren Commission member Gerald Ford, who by some accounts was the main person pushing for the "single gunman" theory despite the forensic evidence contained within the report itself.