In the Friday, March 19, post below, I said, "No matter how many times someone lies through their teeth, the lie is still a lie; teeth make a very bad filter."I am not one to use the word "lie" casually. I have friends who use it more freely than I do. If someone says, "I'll be there at 7:00," and the person shows up at 7:02, they might call that a lie since the original statement ended up being untrue. I don't use the word lie that way. Doing so is inflammatory and, depending on the circumstances, it could either harm the relationship or heighten the burden of proof required to end it.
To me a lie must be either a deliberate falsehood or such a pathological pattern of reckless statements that it becomes clear the speaker only means what he/she says for a matter of minutes and has no remorse when his/her actions belie what was said. For instance, when someone says something to sway people (to win their vote or loyalty or affection or money) with no intention of actually doing what they say, that is a person who uses empty promises as a stratagem, that's a person who lies. Once it is clear that a person is in the habit of manipulating people with words, the "L" word applies.
· That's why in the post below, I call it a lie when 219 Democrat representatives promise that adding health care coverage to 30,000,000 people will save taxpayer money rather than spend money we don't have and drive the nation deeper in debt.
· I consider it a lie when they claim that savings will come from cuts they don't yet have the nerve to make or from prosecuted "fraud" that they have not yet bothered to expose and prosecute. (They did not need this bill to begin enforcing the law.)
· I call it a lie when they say this new policy will not affect the vast majority of Americans who currently have health care. Insurance is a "risk club" everybody pays into it knowing they will either get care or "peace of mind," but when a law changes the rules of the "risk club" it will indeed change either the cost or the benefits. The 75% of Americans who were happy with their coverage, will indeed be affected as explained in this column by Patrick McIlheran. [link added 3-25-10]
· Along with Joe Wilson, I call it a lie when we are told the new healthcare will not benefit unregistered illegal aliens (The statement is only true if Obama succeeds in registering all illegal aliens. Joe Wilson's outburst was based not on the word "unregistered" but on the fact that he knew currently illegal aliens, who pay no taxes or premiums, will indeed get this new entitlement program once they "register" to receive it.)
Tom, shouldn't you wait and see if the above promises are broken before you call them lies? Perhaps, but I'm basing my predictions on past patterns. Does this president casually make promises he does not keep? Does he say things to please crowds and then forget he said them? If that happens once, it could be called a mistake. When it happens deliberately again and again, I call it something else.
Listen to the clip below, and you decide.
Is it a lie when we are promised open proceedings and no "secret deals" when in fact the only way the ponzy health-sham bill passed was through secret deals for democrats and their thug allies like the SEIU? Is it a lie when candidate Obama promises we will give citizens FIVE DAYS to read any bill on his desk before he signs it, but then as president he signs the most partisan, underhanded bill in history the day after his henchmen hand it to him?
Why does that matter, Tom? Isn't that kind of a 7:00/7:02 distinction (to use the example from your opening paragraphs)?
No. This is a huge difference. As you listen to the opening line of his remarks on the Youtube clip below, he is talking about "sunshine being the best disinfectant." Had the kept the promise he makes a minute later, everything we are learning this week about the bill would have been exposed in the five days BEFORE he signed it into law on Saturday morning, but instead it was forced through in one weekend (the first weekend of March Madness) and then it was hastily signed into law and applicable to some businesses the next day . All of this happened BEFORE the media and voters could really study it and digest the insider pay-offs and "slick" timing of the way the bill postpones all of the tough decisions until after the 2012 election (when I hope a different president will attempt to repeal it). By then, reversing this disasterous entitlement will be like pushing toothpaste back in the tube-- with a toothpick! That is why the broken five-day promise matters.
So much for sunshine being the best disinfectant.
Listen to what he says at 1:10 mark. The crowd cheers; Obama nods sincerely; but he evidently had no intention of remembering the line once it swayed the crowd. What do you call that? I'll say it again: "No matter how many times someone lies through their teeth, the lie is still a lie; teeth make a very bad filter... even when the teeth are in an Obama smile or a Pelosi horse laugh."
At the end of the clip, he reassures his cheering fans that the openness of the process he promises will be so "...you can decide if your representatives are representing you." But two years later, he twisted the arms of a dozen or more reps to go against the will of their constituents so he could further force this country into financial ruin while buying the future votes of an additional 30,000,000 cradle-to-grave Democrat entitlement recipients.
Look at the radical political past of the people who made this bad legislation. This isn’t about charity; it’s about power. [Case in point: acts of charity are not "a big f***ing deal" as Biden whispered to Obama before he signed the bill--that vulgarity reflects not charity but the unfiltered hubris of power.]
This sweeping bill is not about constructive change within a form of government; it’s a step by step take-over to a different form of government. And if it fails? If it leads to financial ruin? Even that will serve someone's purpose, for it will be from that desperate, fallen state that a weak and needy population will be all the more eager to follow "the one" who can save the day. Behind all such epic power struggles are two essential sets of characters: inspiring ego-centric leaders who make false promises and the gullible masses who believe them.
7200
Updates:
Kevin O'Brien column: "It's Far From Over."
Joe Conason is an example of what I mean by "the gullible masses who believe them." If he is right, if the caution I lay out in this post is wrong, I will be happy. But I think he is either gullible and blind to the pattern of lies and consequences...or he is merely among those willing to say anything to bring about the disastrous change.
Advice on how to RESPOND to this bad bill, and I do believe the secret of repeeling it will be in a proper response--not the "REACTIONS" we are seeing in some cases.
3 comments:
We made a terrible mistake in electing this man. So much more is coming. He is poison to our way of life and form of government.
Krauthammer said tonight on O'Reilly that this will be paid for in the near future with a value added sales tax. He said it is the only way to prevent our country from going right off the cliff financially, and Obama knows that.
Also, the thinking now is that the Obama admin plans to take over the health insurance companies and turn them into utilities. Rather than a government option, the insurance companies will do all that for the government. They will collect the money and tell the customers what is covered and what is not according to the government. It makes perfect sense to do just that.
In addition, we learned recently that Obama is looking at the insurance companies in general as a source of money to prop up other financial institutions that may begin to fail in the future. He is looking to take over everything.
If we can't repeal this law, then our country is destined to change in dramatic ways. We can kiss our freedom to self-determine goodbye.
So many thoughts are going through my mind. We have ourselves to blame, mostly, as we've allowed "others" to do for us what we should have been doing. We left our land to politicians because they are the elected ones and will take care of business for us.
NOW we want to take a stand and it's falling on silent ears....we aren't being listened to nor taken seriously. I believe we need to become Patriots once again....and maybe then---we can turn the tide. THAT along with humbling ourselves and praying for deliverance!!!
I don't watch to FoxNews anymore...though I do read my local...and quite conservative newspaper and quite conservative radio station that does have the FoxNews service. (I'm living now in The Villages of FL) Most everyone I rub shoulders with is conservative as well so I don't think my head is in the proverbial sand. Our beloved country is in dire straights for sure. I fear for our future in many ways. Perhaps a "stage" is being set......
WSL
SQ,
I do think that the power struggle is just beginning. Imagine the hubris that would manipulate matters as we have seen and then to say "Bring it on" to the many states who have filed suit on a constitutional basis. Imagine Lincoln saying that at the brink of the "state's rights" concerns that led to the Civil War.
I only hope the American mind stays engaged through November and that those driven by "hate" who cannot control their tongues in the picket lines and gallaries become mute so the valid concerns gain traction.
WSL,
You are correct that much of this is very predictable human behavior in the ever-unfolding power struggle. But this is unlike anything I've ever seen or read about in the history of our country as it once existed. "Stage being set?" Perhaps. But I hope millions of termites eat the platform of that stage in the next seven months.
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