Smeagol
DP Veteran
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- Jun 14, 2012
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Should it be a crime for an elected official to lie to the people on open airwaves, in person etc etc? Now I don't mean lying to other governments and what not. I'm talking about lying to US Citizens.
Although I think lying to the public is awful I think its a slippery slope to criminalize it simply because so many people don't know the definition of a lie, or they do but seek to twist the facts themselves in order to demonize their political opposition. A liar isn't always someone who makes an untrue statement. When George H. Bush said "Read my lips, no new taxes" that was not a lie because he meant it at the time he made the statement. When Bill Clinton said "I did not have sex with that woman..." it was essentially a true statement. When George W. Bush said Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction, it was not true but it also was not being a liar because he along every intelligence agency on earth honestly thought he did. Then the country could end up expending countless hours debating was it a lie or not a lie instead of trying to help improve the economy, educate kids an run the government. IMHO if a politician lies and the voters are upset about it, the voters express that election day.
Free trivia: FCC rules prohibit TV stations (excluding cable) from broadcasting certain content including profanity and false advertising. These rules DO NOT apply to political ads due to regulations regarding uncensored political speech.