"You Lie" -- True of False? Update: More Falsehoods

The Clinton Administration's special counsel to the president Lanny Davis has an op-ed in the Washington Times about Joe Wilson's cry of "You lie," during President Obama's speech last Wednesday. Mr. Davis makes the point that an untrue statement is a lie only if it was knowingly false, and therefore President Obama did not lie about coverage for illegal aliens in Obamacare.

I suggest that Mr. Davis fell one step short in his analysis. A statement is a lie not only if the speaker of the untruth knows it to be untrue, but also if the statement was made with reckless disregard for the truth. When you make solemn representations to Congress and the country (even if not under oath) you cannot wilfully put blinders on. You must exercise care to make your statements truthful.

Mr. Davis ends with the excellent point that liberals accused President Bush of lying about WMDs in Iraq despite his sincere belief. The difference between the two situations is that President Push made his statements based upon intelligence reports that there were WMDs in Iraq. That is no reckless disregard for truth. President Obama was wilfully wearing blinders about the truth. The proof is in the aftermath.

Because of Representative Wilson's outburst and accusation, House Democrats are being forced to do what they previously refused to do: put enforcement teeth into the bill to prevent illegal immigrants from getting government subsidized insurance. In his speech even President Obama admitted that illegals would still get free care simply by showing up at emergency rooms as they do now. Isn't that the equivalent of insuring illegal aliens at taxpayer expense? President Obama said, "The reforms I'm proposing would not apply to those who are here illegally." Technically true, but deliberately misleading. If something is deliberately misleading, isn't that a form of a lie?

Update: Getting away from the value-driven word "lies," here is a Wall Street Journal article that reveals more untruthful statements by President Obama in his speech.