Once Upon a Time... , June 23, 2011

I watched Obama's speech. For its brief duration, I kept thinking that George W. Bush could have given exactly the same speech. (Ah, I just remembered that John Caruso demonstrated this truth two years ago, in an exceptionally astute and clever manner.) In fact, and this is the point of significance, no man or woman is going to ascend to the office of president unless he or she will utter precisely the same empty phrases and offer the identical meaningless assurances.

The underlying problem is identified in this post's title. When an individual lies to you repeatedly and systematically, about matters large and small, and especially when he does so over an extended period of time, there is only one method by which an adult will proceed in the future. Very simply, that is to treat everything he says as a lie -- or, if you prefer an alternative, "softer" version of the same idea, to believe nothing he says absent independent corroboration. Sadly for all of us, there are very few adults in America, and only four or five of them have blogs.

In the case of Obama, I could offer the words of one prescient observer. In response to Obama's wildly applauded speech on race, this person wrote:

Almost every politician lies, and most politicians lie repeatedly. Yet in one sense, Obama's speech is exceptional, rare and unique -- but not for any of the reasons offered by Obama's uncritical, mindless adulators. It is exceptional for this reason: it is rare that a candidate will announce in such stark, comprehensive terms that he will lie about every fact of moment, about every aspect of our history that affects the crises of today and that has led to them, about everything that might challenge the mythological view of America. But that is what Obama achieved with this speech. It may be a remarkable achievement -- a remarkable and detestable one, and one that promises endless destruction in the future, both here and abroad.