Listening to Robert Novak interviewing Dick Morris today (there is an odd couple) about Morris' new book.

Morris (I paraphrase): My friend, who was doing Russian polling for Yeltsin, would give me the numbers and I would give them to the President. Sandy Berger told me not to do that but to give the numbers to him and he would decide what to do with them. Clinton had been calling Yeltsin regularly to offer campaign advice.

I went to Clinton and asked him what I should do. He said, "go ahead and tell Berger you'll do that but give me the numbers anyway."

(laughter from both Novak and Morris).

In the olden days (1970s?), the notion of an American president serving as a campaign aide to a foreign head of government, not to mention a head of government where other legitimate power centers in the country were trying to win election, would have been ludicruous. Yes, I know, Nixon et al did very bad things, I wasn't born yesterday. If you'd like, I'll drop that one.

But how about the utterly casual lying revealed here? So casual that neither Novak or Morris remarked on it. Clinton urges one of his key staffers to lie to another (the National Security Adviser!) on his say-so, rather than simply saying to Morris, "I'm the President. Tell Berger I want you to give me the numbers." I mean, duh.

I have been in corporations doing projects at the highest level and I can tell you that while most CEOs are powerful men who LIKE power and use it creatively, they do NOT lie casually to their staff or urge their staff to lie to one another.

Is this new news about Clinton? Of course not. That's the point. An entire atmosphere of deceit has become second-nature around the executive branch of our government and, quite likely, the mainstream media. Clinton is the ring-leader but not deserving of the primary blame. Our elite LIKES to have it thus.

Why SHOULD I as a citizen believe that either Clinton or Koskinen are telling the truth about Y2K? Or that they WILL tell the truth about it?

-- BigDog (BigDog@duffer.com), September 05, 1999

Answers

I believe that it was Senator Bob Kerry who said "Clinton would climb a tree to tell a lie rather than stand on the ground to tell the truth."

-- smfdoc (smfdoc@aol.com), September 05, 1999.

I live in Maryland. Right before the '98 election, the Democratic National Committee claimed that there had been instances of attempted intimidation of black voters. The Sunday before the election, Bill Clinton went to a black church in Maryland, and I saw him on television telling the congregation that, and claiming that three (as I recall the number) had been in Maryland.

Black voters in Maryland turned out in unusually high numbers and voted overwhelmingly Democratic. Janet Reno said that the matter of voter intimidation would be thoroughly investigated.

I haven't heard anything about this since.

Now one thing is 100% certain: a grave misdeed has taken place, involving voting, a truly sacred right that our fighting men have shed their blood for. If there really was intimidation, that of course is the misdeed.

On the other hand, if the charges were fabricated to scare and anger black voters, with Clinton playing on the fears of blacks, then that is the contemptable misdeed.

If Janet Reno's investigation on intimidation came up empty, would she have the integrity to switch the investigation to the question of fabrication? I'm afraid that I don't think so.

-- Peter Errington (petere@ricochet.net), September 06, 1999.

BigDog,

I have been in corporations doing projects at the highest level and I can tell you that while most CEOs are powerful men who LIKE power and use it creatively, they do NOT lie casually to their staff or urge their staff to lie to one another. Of course they don't urge them to lie but in fact they DO LIE. And while it is not a NEW revelation to you that STUD CLinton and Special K are lieing to the masses, both parties are to blame. Why don't I see any big leadership coming from the right on this issues? Because its not there. They are covering their political ass just like everybody else.

Why should I as a citizen TRUST any politician right now? Does your party hold the TRUTH to Y2K? Come clean now do they? Don't make laugh to hard this morning as I am in a very good mood.

-- y2k dave (xsdaa111@hotmail.com), September 06, 1999.

Like I've said for years STOP voting for republocrats - there is NO difference.

-- Dan G (thepcguru@hotmail.com), September 06, 1999.

Y2KDave --- Sorry if I wasn't clear enough. I consider the Republicans more culpable, or at least as culpable, as Clinton. They can add political cowardice to their own propensity for deceit.

-- BigDog (BigDog@duffer.com), September 06, 1999.

Finger pointed at you and me and spoken with obvious angry conviction------>

"Now *I* want YOU'all ta LISTEN To *ME*"!!!

Anybody remember their feelings when they saw this statement coming towards us, hard working tax paying,pledge of allegiance saying,patriots when are fearless leader ask us to LISTEN to him. It was at that point My Commander in Chief and anyone around him totally LOST ALL crediblility! That would include MR. 3-day Kosk.

-- David Butts (dciinc@aol.com), September 06, 1999.

BigDog,

Point taken but your emphasis on a CEO not lieing casually to their staff or urging staff to lie has be mistified. If I am not mistaken, didn't most CORPORATION state they would TOTALLY remediated by 31 DEC 1998 and have a year for testing. Now we all now this is not atrue statement in itself so therefore wouldn't the CEO of any CORPORATION ultimately be responsible for this lie whether or not they intended to be a lie? I have not seen these CORPORATE CEO's coming out and saying anything different that the president.

-- y2k dave (xsdaa111@hotmail.com), September 06, 1999.

Dave -- Go back and take another look at my top post. I didn't say CEOs never urge their staff to "lie" to outsiders, even, for that matter, others in the corporation. What I said was, my experience is they don't lie TO their staff or expect their staff to lie to one another, least of all carry their own lies to other staff.

Obviously, there are exceptions, I'm just saying this was my experience.

When there isn't even "honor among thieves", ie, internally, you end up with the worst kind of betrayals and treacheries.

-- BigDog (BigDog@duffer.com), September 06, 1999.

Big-d,

agree----just went on my rambling above--because it is painfully obvious to me this guy EMBODIES the word liar. That finger wagging episode is just deeply ingrained into my psyche!

-- Dave Butts (dciinc@aol.com), September 06, 1999.