Hey BC -

How's it going?

Very interesting article. Politicians everywhere lie. The question is why? There are many reasons I am sure but the one I want to dwell on is this: because they are afraid the public will punish them for speaking the truth. What would have happened if Bush said "I don't like Saddam, he is a long term threat to US interests, plus he is sitting on all these oil reserves, lets just get rid of him, and get rid of him now when our military has momentum given 9/11 and our recent success in Afghanistan" The truth might have gotten him impeached.

Politicians lie to boost their images (Hillary Clinton claimed she was named after Edmund Hillary but Sir Edmund hadn't become well known till she was 6 or seven years old), to put down their enemies , to play up fears ("the mushroom cloud", "Barack Hussein Obama"), to avoid shame/protect their reputations ("I did not have sex with that woman"). They lie for pretty much the same reasons that other people lie.

The reason it is a big deal when politicians lie is because of the hypocrisy that comes with it. Its when you say one thing and do another, your lies get magnified ten folds. Take the anti-gay senator from Idaho arrested for some hanky-panky in the airport. Or all those politicians who support the Iraq war that other peoples children fight but have children who have never served.What they have is not so much a lying problem but a credibility problem in my opinion.

Just my thoughts.

Hope all is well with you.