What is Truth?

I understand that politicians weave and dodge and spin. That’s what they do. But, you know, there are degrees. George W. Bush may not have always made the correct decision, but he was, relatively speaking, a what you see is what you get kind of guy.

As an out Republican, I am of course axiomatically a racist, but it is not Obama’s race, or half-race, that bothers me. What bothers me is the President’s flexible relationship with the truth.

Following are some excerpts from Obama’s press conference that, in my opinion, are bald-faced lies. Well, not really bald-faced. They are actually very hirsute lies, but they are falsehoods that the press corps would never ever have allowed Bush to get away with.

…moving from an era of borrow and spend to one where we save and invest.

I’m as angry as anybody about those bonuses that went to some of the very same individuals who brought our financial system to its knees, partly because it’s yet another symptom of the culture that led us to this point. [His Treasury Secretary inserted approval of the AIG bonuses into the bill, via Chris Dodd, and Obama signed it.]

What we can’t do, though, is sacrifice long-term growth, investments that are critical to the future, and that’s why my budget focuses on health care, energy, education, the kinds of things that can build a foundation for long-term economic growth, as opposed to the fleeting prosperity that we’ve seen over the last several years. [Fleeting meaning almost constant growth and prosperity for the last 20 years.]

…What I’ve tried to do is to be out front as much as possible explaining in very clear terms exactly what we’re doing. [Really? Exactly how much are all of those toxic assets worth? It’s been several months now. Are they really that hard to figure out?]

When it comes to cap-and-trade, the broader principle is that we’ve got to move to a new energy era, and that means moving away from polluting energy sources towards cleaner energy sources. That is a potential engine for economic growth. I think cap-and-trade is the best way, from my perspective, to achieve some of those gains, because what it does is it starts pricing the pollution that’s being sent into the atmosphere. [by “pollution” he means carbon dioxide. You know, the gas that is exhaled by mammals, which is a miniscule fraction of the presence in the atmosphere of that other much more potent polluting greenhouse gas, water vapor.]

Both under our estimates and under the CBO estimates, both — the most conservative estimates out there, we drive down the deficit over the first five years of our budget. The deficit is cut in half. And folks aren’t disputing that. [The deficit is cut in half after it is first doubled, or, more realistically, tripled.]

Our assumptions are perfectly consistent with what Blue Chip forecasters out there are saying. [No credible economist expects the growth figures that Obama is projecting, including Paul Krugman.]

look, I’m not going to lie to you.

…the best way for us to do that is to reduce health care costs. That’s not just my opinion. That’s the opinion of almost every single person who has looked at our long-term fiscal situation. [Hardly.]

It took us a couple of days because I like to know what I’m talking about before I speak. [He knew about the bonuses weeks before it became public.]

Now, if it’s really a charitable contribution, I’m assuming that that shouldn’t be the determining factor as to whether you’re giving that $100 to the homeless shelter down the street. [Yeah, right.]

…if you look at the evidence, there’s very little evidence that this has a significant impact on charitable giving. [What evidence is that, Mr. President?]

QUESTION: In your remarks on stem cell research earlier this month, you talked about a majority consensus in determining whether or not this is the right thing to do, to federally fund embryonic stem cell research. I’m just wondering, though, how much you personally wrestled with the morality or ethics of federally funding this kind of research, especially given the fact that science so far has shown a lot of progress with adult stem cells, but not a lot with embryonic?

OBAMA: OK. No, I think it’s — I think it’s a legitimate question. I — I wrestle with these issues every day. [I thought it was all about science?]

…and I respect people who have different opinions on this issue. [yeah, right.]

When it comes to Iran, you know, we did a video, sending a message to the Iranian people and the leadership of the Islamic Republic of Iran. And some people said, “Well, they did not immediately say that we’re eliminating nuclear weapons and stop funding terrorism.” Well, we didn’t expect that. We expect that we’re going to make steady progress on this front. [Nobody ever said anything of the sort.]