The Ninth Commandment

The traditional Bible says the Ninth Commandment is "Thou shalt not bear false witness," but Today's English Version states it more clearly as "Do not accuse anyone falsely." In many religions, breaking this Commandment is a grievous sin. In all modern societies, lying is frowned upon, and, in some "primitive" cultures, those who lie are even subject to corporal punishment.

In my lifetime, I have observed a number of elected officials lie. After my idyllic childhood, I went to college, and I learned of Senator Joe McCarthy, whose lies ruined several lives and earned him the censure of the U.S. Senate. Later, President Richard Nixon was involved in a petty crime and lied about it, but he had the good grace to resign. President Bill Clinton denied his sexual peccadillos, but he lied and was impeached. He has no grace.

More recently, the disgruntled Democrats lost the 2000 presidential election, and they embarked upon a reprehensible program of lies that still reverberates today. I allow myself to be offended by the following lies:

1. The election of 2000 was fraudulent -- LIE
Every election has a small amount of voter fraud, but the outcome in 2000 was not affected.

2. President Bush stated fraudulent reasons for invading Iraq -- LIE
The U.S. and several other countries of the world had intelligence that said Saddam Hussein was trying to obtain fissionable material. We did accomplish his removal.

3. There were no WMDs -- LIE
Saddam had sent rockets into Kuwait and shot and gassed thousands of his own citizens. The weapons had been there, but somehow they were sold, destroyed or hidden before we arrived.

4. The war is for oil -- LIE
Certainly, when you deal with countries of the Middle East, the subject of oil comes up, but neither President Bush, not his friends or family, nor the American people stole or profited one cent from Iraqi oil.

5. President Bush didn't honor his National Guard commitment -- LIE
It was Dan Rather's fiction.

6. The election of 2004 was fradulent -- LIE
The Electoral College is a part of the Constitution, and grousing about it won't change the results. The Democrats aren't disturbed enough to try to amend the Constitution yet, are they?

7. The firing of the U.S. Attorneys was a scandal -- LIE
That's why no one has been punished. It was a smoke screen to embarrass the President.

8. And finally, in an attempt to discredit the next President, John McCain had a affair with a lobbyist seven years ago -- LIE
They couldn't verify it at that time, either.