Schoolboys learn early that:

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A politician is a man who is spontaneously and effortlessly dishonest on every conceivably level.

 

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Which raises this question:

 

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Is the politician really a Liar:

 

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If his dishonesty is not conscious or contrived:

 

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But rather, is:

 

 

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Reflexive and instinctual?

 

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After all, a man is not really a LIAR if:

 

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He lacks the mental alacrity and basic capacity to discern and appreciate right from wrong, truth from fiction.

 

 

A worthwhile case study is Clinton, who lied reflexively, effortlessly, in all cases and who likely did not know he was lying.

 

 

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In point of fact, when I was tucked up in a political billet for Father Bush, in which my principal duty was going to 3 hour luncheons every Noon, a friend, Jeff Smith, stopped by and said to me, in a high lather, feverishly, just this:

 

 

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“Begg, you and I must work to defeat Clinton because I know, personally, that Clinton is a pathological liar.

 

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I said:

 

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“Smith, So what?”

 

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Smith said:

 

“I have had direct dealings with the Office of The Governor of Arkansas on a number of occasions and on 3 such occasions at least, Clinton has effortlessly lied to me and I approached him on it.”

 

 

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I said: “Smith, so what?”

 

 

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Smith said:

  

“Begg, listen, I went up to him and said “Governor, on 3 separate occasions, you have lied to me when telling me the truth would have been more advantageous to you, Governor.”

 

 

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I said:

 

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Smith, so what?”

 

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Smith said:

 

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“Begg, you won’t believe how the man reacted.  Clinton took my arm and looked into my eyes right after I had accused him of lying to me when his better advantage would have been served by telling me the truth and Clinton said to me:

 

 

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‘Jeff, I’ve always liked you ever since we first met.'”

 

 

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“Begg, this means that the man is way beyond being a liar…he is a psychopath.”

 

 

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I said:

 

 

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“Smith, so what?”

 

The point of all this is a question for the Americans:

 

 

 

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Is it accurate to say that Clinton, or any other politician, is a LIAR, if his lies are not deliberate, but rather instinctual and reflexive?

 

 

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Put another way, we ask ourselves:

 

 

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“Are politicians dishonest, or, rather…mentally not competent to discern the truth?

 

We think that if the answer to this question is that politicians are deliberate liars, well, now, that’s very naughty.

 

 

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We think here on the other hand, that if the answer to that question is that politicians are mentally not competent to discern truth from fiction, that’s very much worse than merely naughty.

 

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What do you think?

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We think to lie is a: Moral Lapse.

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We think that to not know if one is lying or no is a:

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Mental Lapse.

 

@Art Credits TIME, Incorporated@

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