'Presidents Should Not be Liars

By Ethel C. Fenig

Will someone, anyone, please do Jimmy Carter a favor and tell him to just shut up? He's proving to be a major embarrassment to himself--and, by shilling for terrorists, bigots and other downright evil characters, a major danger to others.

In this latest bizarre example of the former, tellingly related in the negative, he elevates himself to George Washingtonian status by proudly proclaiming I cannot tell a lie." But....other presidents do. And did.

Presidents Should Not Be Liars I do not think the President of the United States should be a liar, and believe that the overwhelming majority of U.S. citizens agree with me. For security reasons, the whole truth cannot always be revealed, but it is quite obvious that lies are seldom made to protect our nation. Almost invariably, the political fortunes of the prevaricator are at stake. (snip) I habitually told my small groups of supporters, "If I even make a misleading statement, don't support me."

Although stigmatized as naïve and often having to suffer the consequences, I maintained this commitment to truthfulness during my term in office, and it paid off in many ways.

No Jimmy, you didn't suffer the consequences, others did. The lone example you trot out...

the trust aroused in me by President Anwar Sadat and Prime Minister Menachim Begin, which was instrumental in orchestrating the Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty...

...is an ice cold fragile peace that could melt as quickly as a sliver of ice in the MidEast sun. With your ongoing lies about Israel, few in Israel or other peace loving areas, have any trust in you. Only your lying, murderous pals trust your naivete.

And that is not a lie. It is the truth.