George Epstein: Presidents who lie

Liar. That’s just about the toughest thing you can call someone. The obscenities we throw around so frequently have lost much of their bite through overuse. Ethnic slurs retain a capacity to hurt, but given our Politically Correct world, they are most frequently used by members of the same tribe in jest. “Coward” used to be pretty powerful – at least when applied toward men, but the lack of physical danger in most of our lives leaves us with cowardice most often applied in social situations, i.e. you’re afraid to ask Susie to the prom or tell your boss she doesn’t know what she’s doing.

It is “liar” that is the most vicious epithet we can aim at someone in American society in 2003. Lying for financial gain was recently in vogue, but now appears to be causing the perpetrators some pain. Martha Stewart has a civil suit pending against her for insider trading, but the penalty for that is just money. As noted by her prosecutor, her criminal indictment is for lying – allegedly saying that she received no inside info and then trying to modify evidence of her contacts with her broker.