The Weight.

I had an interesting discussion with a friend the other day. We were talking about the vice-presidential debate and I was commenting on what I considered to be the astounding number of bare faced lies uttered by Dick Cheney. Anyway, my friend said something like "...ahh...they were both lying." Then he moved on, as if that part of the discussion was dispatched with.

Let's just stay I begged to differ.

First of all, lets, for the same of argument, say that Edwards did lie a few times during the debate. NONE of his apparent misstatements come NEAR Cheney's assertion that he had never linked 9/11 to Iraq. Contrast that with what Cheney says was Edwards' most egregious error - saying that American troops are bearing 90% of the casulaties in Iraq.These two lies are not the same. One of them witholds the fact that there are Iraqi army nationals fighting alongside coalition troops (and to be fair, every news organizationin the world counts the casualties like Edwards). Cheney's lie, on the other hand, is made up of thin air. There are numerous tv and print interviews showing Cheney making the connection. So theres a question of style that distinguishes them from each other. There's also a question of consequences. Edwards 'lie', at worst, misrepresented a percentage. Cheney's lie was part of a deliberate attempt by the Bush administration to connect Saddam and 9/11, thus creating popular support for the war. Thousands of people have died as a result. It goes without saying that these lies are not equal.

The fact that they are 'both lies' does not make them equal. That's like saying that shoplifting a bag of Doritos is the same as killing an old lady. They're both crimes. But they have a different weight. And that's how I feel
about the Bush/Cheney campaign lately. yeah, they're politicians, and yeah, politicians lie - but the scope and consequences of these lies are unprecedented. And that doesn't get seen by the public when they read the 'fact check' table in the paper the next day. These lies aren't equal. Okay. Rant over.