It appears one of my Twitter comments prompted Rep. Dennis Ross, R-Fla, to explicitly compare Attorney General Eric Holder to George Costanza from Seinfeld, considering the similarity between their creative definitions of “lie.”
As Seinfeld might ask, “What is the deal with this attorney general and his refusal to answer basic questions about a program that smuggled guns across the border to Mexican drug cartels?”
I'm with Eric and George on this one. A lie requires intent to deceive, while incorrect statements can be merely mistakes. You may not believe Mr. Holder, but that's an issue of whether he is lying, not whether he's defining "lie" creatively.
This is also what bugged me about the accusations of GW Bush "lying" about WMD's in Iraq. No one could ever prove that he intended to deceive Congress, the UN, or the American people, but still he was regularly accused of lying. A false statement is not a lie if you believe it to be true.
I'm with Eric and George on this one. A lie requires intent to deceive, while incorrect statements can be merely mistakes. You may not believe Mr. Holder, but that's an issue of whether he is lying, not whether he's defining "lie" creatively.
This is also what bugged me about the accusations of GW Bush "lying" about WMD's in Iraq. No one could ever prove that he intended to deceive Congress, the UN, or the American people, but still he was regularly accused of lying. A false statement is not a lie if you believe it to be true.
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abuse