This proverb, that has been attributed to Mark Twain, has some real relevance during this presidential campaign season. Both major political candidates have accused each other of lying. Is one right, or are both? Is is one more prone to be called a liar than the other?
Well, let's take a look. Donald Trump has a tendency to brag, bluster, and exaggerate when making statements, but people seem to think that he is not a “congenital liar” (aside from their other perceptions of him), but the same could not be said of his opponent, Hillary Clinton, who was dubbed a “congenital liar” by the late N.Y. Times columnist William Safire, way back in 1995.
Since Hillary Clinton has been associated in politics for approximately 30 years, she has a written and verbal record of things she has said or done, over the years, to conjure up the charge of being a “congenital liar”, as labeled by William Safire. In fact, recently a Quinnipiac poll asked people to say the first word that came into their mind when the name Hillary Clinton was mentioned. The first three answers, as reported by the poll, were #1 – liar, #2 – dishonest, and #3 – untrustworthy. That's a major burden that Hillary Clinton will have to carry into the presidential campaign. Will she be able to overcome this perception of being untruthful? Only time will tell.
Up until the present time, Hillary has insisted that her private e-mail server was legal and approved for her in conducting her duties as Secretary of State. But, according to the State Department inspector general, she did not get permission or would not have gotten permission to use a “private” e-mail server in the conduct of her duties of Secretary of State. In addition, she signed a State Department directive, the day she started as Secretary, regarding her using exclusively a State Department sanctioned e-mail server. She now states that she does not remember signing that statement (this seems to be a recurring “problem” for Hillary - not remembering certain inconvenient facts). Does anyone really believe that she was that unaware of this protocol of the State Department? In fact, during her tenure as Secretary of State, she even sent a memo to underlings in the State Department stating that they should not use private e-mails in the conduct of their duties. I guess this is a case “of do as I say, not as I do”. To her it seems that the law applies to everyone else and not to her (and her husband, Bill Clinton too).
This was just the latest of her contradictions (a/k/a lies) that have dogged her over the years. Look at another one of her flip-flops over the years. It seems that she will say or do whatever her audience wants to hear in order to gain favor and win votes. Remember in 2008, when she appeared in a nationally televised session with the Rev. Rick Warren, when she stated unequivocally that she was in favor of traditional marriage, between one man and one woman, because of her strongly held religious beliefs. I guess her “strongly held” religious beliefs changed in 2015, when she came out in favor of same-sex marriage. Was she lying about her religious beliefs in 2008 or did political considerations take precedence over her “strongly held” religious beliefs that she told Rick Warren and the national T.V. audience?
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Her opponent, Donald Trump, has made some comments over the past year that she has referred to as him being a liar, but what she considers lying could be construed as Trump being an exaggerator, being a self-glorifier, and a boaster, but not a person who blatantly lies to gain an upper hand in the face of known facts.
It is safe to say that we all lie to some extent. Some could be called “white lies” and some could be called “whoppers”. The comments made by Hillary generally fall into the category of being “whoppers”. It seems that when Hillary tells a lie, she really believes it to be the truth. In other words, it is pathological in her case which can be called a case of “cognitive dissonance” ( which is defined as the mental conflict that people experience when they are presented with evidence that their beliefs or assumptions are wrong).
So, the proverb of “Figures Don't Lie, but Liars do Figure” fits Hillary Clinton to a tee, and to think that she might be our next president, boggles the mind. She has zero credibility, both domestically and internationally. Let's hope that saner heads will prevail in the upcoming election and Hillary will not become president.
