Right hand, left hand; left hand, right hand
So I checked out what the word perjury means on Merriam-Webster's free online dictionary. Here's what I found:
1. the voluntary violation of an oath or vow either by swearing to what is untrue or by omission to do what has been promised under oath
2. false swearing
Now that we've established the definition of perjury, it seems like we may have some disagreement on the severity of this particular crime. Consider the following quotes surrounding the impeachment trial of President Clinton (thank you, CNN):
"I cannot trust him again. Today, we are engaged in war in the Persian Gulf. I was assured by Secretary Cohen and by the director of our Central Intelligence Agency that the timing was justified. Those are honorable men. And because of their testimony, I believe the timing was justified. But I do not believe it was justified because of what President Clinton has said, because I can no longer believe him."
-- Rep. Tom Campbell (R-California)
"What we say here today will be but paragraphs perhaps even footnotes in the pages of history to be written by those to come. What we do here will be indelibly printed on the American tradition. Let not this House grant a pardon to the president for his criminal offenses. Let not history look back on this day and say there, on that date, America surrendered the rule of law."
-- Rep. Kenny Hulshof (R-Missouri)
"It's not a question of sex. Sexual misconduct and adultery are private acts and are none of Congress' business. It's not even lying about sex. The matter before the House is a question of lying under oath."
-- Rep. Henry Hyde (R-Illinios)
"I believe perjury does meet at least the definition of high misdemeanor. In my mind, it certainly meets the measure of high crime."
-- Rep. Nancy Johnson (R-Connecticut)
Heavy stuff. And now...:
"... if there is going to be an indictment that says something happened, that it is an indictment on a crime and not some perjury technicality where they couldn't indict on the crime and so they go to something just to show that their two years of investigation was not a waste of time and taxpayer dollars."
-- Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas)
First Harriet Miers, then this outstanding attempt at spin - this is what happens when they let our elected officials actually make decisions. Karl Rove is obviously pretty distracted by this whole investigation. Hey, Karl, pay attention - you'd better get the keys back from Junior, his leadership is showing.
The country is not stupid
Even though it's silent
It still has eyes and ears
It just can't find its mouth
- Jon Langford, "Constanz"
Posted by Joel at 10/24/2005 11:38:00 PM
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