Saturday, May 23, 2009

Lies, Damn Lies and Politicians


If there is a better example of the Byzantine lawlessness of our current and recent government as evidenced by the ongoing kerfuffel over the issue of torture, please dear reader point it out.

Under TITLE 18 PART I CHAPTER 47 § 1001 of the US Code enacted by Congress, it is a felony to in effect lie to any federal agent or official. This statute should not be confused with perjury which consists of lying under oath. Indeed, section (b) of the above statute specifically exempts lawyers while section (c) exempts legislators under most instances. Perhaps these provisions account for the known propensity of members of these two groups to engage in "deceptive" pronouncements and political prosecutions.
At recent press conferences the Speaker of the House of Representatives accused members of the CIA of felonies:
Mrs. Pelosi last week said the CIA lied to her in 2002 by concealing that it had already used enhanced interrogation techniques, and said the agency continues to lie today by mischaracterizing the briefing. She also said the CIA lied in the run-up to the Iraq war.

"They mislead us all the time," she said.

On the other hand, spokespersons (including Mr. Panetta) for the Central Intelligence Agency continue to insist that briefings to members of congress including Mrs. Pelosi on the subject at hand and others as well, contain no misleading statements nor has there existed any policy to mislead members of Congress.

Clearly, one or more of the parties to this flap are lying; yet the majority party in Congress continues to defeat any effort directed at resolving the issue by a formal investigation.

My, how the times have changed since the political railroading of Scooter Libby.

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