Compare and contrast
Jun. 9th, 2003 06:51 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
libertango"Intelligence gathered by this and other governments leaves no doubt that the Iraq regime continues to possess and conceal some of the most lethal weapons ever devised."
George W. Bush, 17 March 2003
"I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Ms Lewinsky."
Bill Clinton, January 1998
Both of these statements now appear to be equally false.
Yet, despite the appearance of both statements to have been lies "with knowledge aforethought," one of the speakers appears to have so far escaped any harm to his reputation -- despite the fact that his lie put thousands of US troops at risk, while the other's was merely a personal peccadillo.
As a conservative once famously said, "Where's the outrage?"
George W. Bush, 17 March 2003
"I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Ms Lewinsky."
Bill Clinton, January 1998
Both of these statements now appear to be equally false.
Yet, despite the appearance of both statements to have been lies "with knowledge aforethought," one of the speakers appears to have so far escaped any harm to his reputation -- despite the fact that his lie put thousands of US troops at risk, while the other's was merely a personal peccadillo.
As a conservative once famously said, "Where's the outrage?"
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no subject
Date: 2003-06-10 08:55 am (UTC)If Clinton can be impeached for lying about a largely personal matter unrelated to his presidency (ignore for a moment the question of whether his flawed judgement is related or not), surely the same should be expected for someone who lied and sent men and women to kill and be killed based on a falsehood?
no subject
Date: 2003-06-10 03:47 pm (UTC)Clinton was impeached (but then acquitted) for lying under oath. That was a crime, or at least sufficiently looked like one that he was impeached. I suppose it wasn't a crime in the end because he was indeed acquitted.
Bush, on the other hand, cannot be impeached if it doesn't look like he committed a crime.
We are a nation of laws, we can't start prosecuting people for "doing bad stuff" just because we don't like it, they have to have actually broken some law.