How is it possible, even thinkable, that Bill Clinton's unwillingness to answer completely unjustified questions about his sexlife (yes I know he was giving testimoy at the time) can cause him years of political trouble, turning him into a lame duck president for a considerable time, whereas a consistent rhetoric of lies from all senior members of George Bush's staff for over a year only threatens to cost Bush the election. I realize George Lakoff has an explanation but I still can't comprehend how half a nation could be so happy to close its eyes on so obvious, consistent and wide ranging deception.
There is no scale to lies apparently. The importance of the lie does not scale with the consequences of it.
At the same time these people are quickly stealing free speech - no courts involved - Doc Searls follows this scandal closely and eloquently.
Posted by Claus at March 19, 2004 03:23 AM | TrackBack (0)Conservatives might call it "not lying, but justice on a higher level". These people seem to think that they have an omnipresent god on their side, justifying their means and allowing them to evade the moral responsibilities they themselves imposed on the Clinton administration. This bears resemblance to the crusades, where a so-called righteous violence was justified by the fact that it was inflicted on godless wicked creeps. Wrong? Yes! Amoral? Definately! An integrated part of christian culture? Absolutely.
Posted by: jdreng on March 19, 2004 8:35 AMACtually, what you're saying is exactly what Lakoff has to say on the matter - only with more details about how one constructs such a mindset for oneself.
Posted by: Dee on March 19, 2004 10:15 AM