Tom Bevan wonders whether President Obama is lying or engaging in wishful thinking when he claims that he “will not sign a plan that adds one dime to our deficits — either now or in the future”:
So Obama’s assertion he can expand coverage and care without adding a dime to the deficit over the next ten years is, by the admission of even one of his most ardent supporters, a claim that virtually no one believes. Generically speaking, when someone makes a claim that no one believes it’s characterized as a lie.
But the difference between wishful thinking and a lie comes down to intent. This is why the operative line in Herbert’s column is “I’m sure he [Obama] really believes it.” Because if Obama really believes his claim then it can’t be considered a lie, just as I wouldn’t technically be guilty of lying if I believed in my heart that a greyhound could outrun a cheetah. What I would be guilty of, however, is gross naivete and wishful thinking.
I think there are other alternatives. The most likely in my view is that he is simply misinformed. That would be neither lying nor wishful thinking.
However, I think that Tom is right that the press is treating President Obama’s lies, wishes, or mistakes as you will with kid gloves where they would have savaged President George W. Bush. It ain’t beanbag.
Good grief.
What ever happened to Occam’s Razor?
Of course Obama is lying. He’s lying through his teeth.
For what it’s worth, I agree with Thomas Sowell; Barack Obama doesn’t care whether what he says is true or not, just whether he can use his words to con an audience. Oddly enough, that may mean that Obama isn’t lying, technically, because he has never bothered to find out the truth.