It’s a sin to tell a lie – but a popular sin

There’s a famous story about when George Washington was six years old. He received a hatchet as a gift and with it he damaged his father’s cherry tree. When his father discovered what George had done, he was pretty angry. Young George bravely said, “I cannot tell a lie…I did cut it with my hatchet.” Washington’s father embraced him and declared that his son’s honesty was worth more than a thousand trees.

Rather a contrast with President Trump. Here are just three of his lies:

Jan. 23  2020: “Between 3 million and 5 million illegal votes caused me to lose the popular vote.” 

Jan 25 2020:  “So, look, when President Obama was there two weeks ago making a speech, very nice speech. Two people were shot and killed during his speech. You can’t have that.”

Feb 24 2020: “Obamacare covers very few people — and remember, deduct from the number all of the people that had great health care that they loved that was taken away from them — it was taken away from them.”

If you go to https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/06/23/opinion/trumps-lies.html

you’ll find hundreds of others.

But before you start bemoaning the way politicians in the US have begun to lie so much, consider another president – Michael D Higgins.He  is a man about whom there is much to admire, but he did definitively promise, when running for office the first time, that he would not seek a second term. When the time came, he did just that. Which is what is known as telling a lie.

Something similar happened when Joe Biden was running for the US presidency in 2020. There are a great number of people who contend he “signalled” that he’d be one-term president. As it turns out, that’s what he was – a one-termer – but he clearly was intent on being a two-termer.  Which would make him a liar, depending I suppose on how clearly he signalled a one-term message when campaigning in 2020.

And then there’s Micheál Martin. In 2020, he made it clear that he wouldn’t  be in coalition with Fine Gael.
“People want change, they want Fine Gael out of office…Fine Gael need to come out of government, they have been there too long and they haven’t delivered.”

And of course shortly after, he entered a coalition with Fine Gael. Just as he will do again next month.

And you may have seen RTÉ’s Reeling in the Years, where  Brian Lenihan Snr’s “mature recollection” stumble during the 1990 presidential campaign was replayed. Lenihan publicly contradicted private statements about telephoning Áras an Uachtaráin in 1982 to talk President Hillery out of calling a general election.

What was it they said about knowing when politicians are lying? Dead right, Virginia – their lips are moving.