It all began with a lie!
Some of us are categorized as having the right to tell lies. Spies tell lies, lovers tell lies and diplomats tell lies. Politicians, however, are especially expected not to tell lies. They are not entitled to lie.
But expecting a politician not to tell lies -- just like asking a monkey not to climb trees or asking a scorpio not to sting -- is absolutely impossible. Thus, in one American scholar's words, that politicians don't lie is a myth created by the state.
Take late US president Lyndon B. Johnson. Scholars have said that the White House was wrapped in a web of lies during Johnson's presidency. He publicly announced that he had ordered an end to the bombing of north Vietnam while in fact the bombing continued. He promised never to send his fellow Americans to their deaths on the battlefield, but the Vietnam War gradually escalated during his administration.
What scared us most was that after Johnson had told so many lies for so long, the American people still chose to believe him, rather than the media, which reported the truth about the Vietnam War. Some Americans even accused the media of lying.
According to some White House correspondents, lying had become a disease for Johnson. With one lie after another, the disease speedily spread all over him like a cancer. When the correspondents attempted to reveal the truth to the public, however, they not only angered the president but also offended most American people. The credibility of the media was also greatly questioned.
It wasn't until later, when the real truth of the Vietnam War came into the living rooms of each family's home through television, that the American people realized who was lying.
Next to late US president Richard Nixon, however, Johnson's capacity for lying doesn't stand up to comparison.
When news of the Watergate scandal first broke, Nixon firmly insisted that the White House, as well as the Republican Party, was not involved.
During the investigation, not only were Nixon's top aides forced to resign in order to take responsibility for him, but the attorney general was also fired.
Nixon even gave a national radio and television address in 1973, claiming that he was absolutely innocent, and that it was his aides who must take full responsibility for the scandal.
His speech was later chosen as the most significant example of lying in the 20th century in a book published by Penguin Books.
What makes Nixon's lies so significant is that he actually believed that he was an innocent victim of the scandal, because of constant "self-hypnotism" (
Consequently, in his national address, he shamelessly said that he knew nothing of the Watergate break-in, that those who were guilty must take responsibility and pay the penalty and that justice would be pursued fairly, fully and impartially, no matter who was involved.
He also said that the office of president was a sacred trust of which he was determined to be worthy, and famously proclaimed, "There can be no whitewash at the White House," in order to "prove" his own innocence.
Although none of his above words were true, Nixon later said that every word of the speech came from the bottom of his heart and that even he himself had been deeply moved by the speech. Obviously, he had already mastered the skill of lying to perfection.
Of all the different kinds of lies, the lie made because of a liar's "self-hypnotism," "self-rationalization" (
Moreover, if the liar happens to be a heavyweight politician, his or her lie sounds just like the truth because of his or her great power, position, fame and influence.
Mark Twain's words, that "a lie can go halfway around the world before the truth even has its shoes on," could be used by many liars to their own advantage.
Still, we would rather believe that Nixon's words -- "Justice will be pursued fairly, fully and impartially, no matter who is involved" -- are true.
Wang Chien-chuang is the president of The Journalist magazine.
Translated by Eddy Chang
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