When Lying Isn’t Lying

While I will admit that most if not all candidates sometimes have trouble with the truth. They have a tendency to overstate positive and understate negative facts concerning their records. We, as the voting public are aware of these liberties with the truth and have accepted them as part of the political process. Most voters are not that concerned with exact figures or facts so long as the candidates overall message or point rings true. Here is where a certain Republican presidential candidate is having a problem, Mr. Rudy Giuliani seems to be overstepping the occasional missed fact and figure tolerance that we allow candidates. In what appears to be a deliberate campaign of false facts and figures, Mr. Giuliani is churning out incorrect data at an alarming rate.

In almost every appearance as he campaigns for the Republican presidential nomination, Rudolph W. Giuliani cites a fusillade of statistics and facts to make his arguments about his successes in running New York City and the merits of his views...All of these statements are incomplete, exaggerated or just plain wrong. And while, to be sure, all candidates use misleading statistics from time to time, Mr. Giuliani has made statistics a central part of his candidacy as he campaigns on his record.[1]

It is one thing to mistakenly recite a figure that is incorrect, no one can be expected to remember every fact or figure concerning an issue. Even if that issue does concern the candidate’s own record, we all make mistakes. The problem with Mr. Giuliani is, even after the figures have been proven to be false, he continues to stubbornly use them in spite of the fact they are wrong. This indicates to me a certain lack of character on the part of the candidate, if he continues to use false information to prove a point then it calls into question the truth of the point. It also calls into question the basic truthfulness of the candidate. I’m sorry Mr. Giuliani if you’ll lie about some stupid fact on the campaign trail, would you not also lie about Iran’s WMD capabilities? It makes me wonder.

An example of Mr. Giuliani’s departure from the truth is his oft repeated prostate cancer figure. According to Mr. Giuliani, if he were in England and had been diagnosed with prostate cancer his chances for survival would only be 44% as opposed to the US where his survival chances would be 82%. This is quite a disparity and one that would be worthy of noting to contrast the state of health care in America versus Britain, the only problem is the figures are not true and Mr. Giuliani knows they are not true. The actual figure is 74.4% in the UK, a difference still but not the great disparity being touted by Mr. Giuliani as fact. Even after the figure had been debunked, Mr. Giuliani continued to quote the figure and use it in advertising. Isn’t this the same type of behavior that was exhibited by the current administration when confronted by facts that did not support their positions?

Frank Luntz, a Republican strategist who once worked for Mr. Giuliani, said he doubted that the issue would hurt him politically.

“When he talks about New York, people see it,” Mr. Luntz said of Mr. Giuliani, “and they feel it, and if a number isn’t quite right, or is off by a small amount, nobody will care, because it rings true to them.”[2]

Here’s the deal Mr. Luntz, no one would begrudge a candidate a little fudging, but these are not small discrepancies on an occasional basis, this is a regular conscious misrepresentation of the facts. So, because he is talking about New York facts suddenly become irrelevant, he can spew out any information he chooses no matter its basis in fact? I don’t think so, I believe that the general public will care even if the Republican base does not. It seems that Mr. Giuliani believes that since no one has called Mr. Bush and his cronies on their lies, no one will call him on his. Nothing could be further from the truth. Mr. Giuliani must believe in the adage if you throw enough crap on the wall some of it is going to stick.

Dear Mr. Giuliani, if you don’t know your facts please stop quoting them, obviously math was not your strong suit. The American public is not being served by your misrepresentations and you are not projecting a presidential image, in fact it appears to be more fake know-it-all. When a person continues to spout information he knows to be false it is no longer a mistake, it is lying. No matter what the spin, it is lying. If you are willing to spread lies to advance your campaign, what else are you capable of? Mr. Giuliani seems to be running the same campaign Georg W. ran in 2000, remember the passionate conservative that lied his way to the White House, lied his way into war, and now wants to lie his way into history. When is a lie not a lie, when it comes from a politician, then it is just business as usual.

For more information on prostate health and the work being done I have included a link to a website for more information. Thank you Dr. Krongrad...

Krongrad Institute

[1] http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/30/us/politics/30truth.html?hp
[2] http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/30/us/politics/30truth.html?pagewanted=2&hp