It really doesn’t matter if Hillary Clinton is ‘dishonest’

[FreakinDJ]

https://img.washingtonpost.com/wp-apps/imrs.php?src=&w=1484


Calling someone dishonest is one of the most serious political insults in the United States. The country has been obsessed with its politicians' honesty at least since President George Washington's first biographer popularized the tale of him hacking at the trunk of a cherry tree. "I cannot tell a lie," a young Washington supposedly said when confronted about the damage.

Now, with less than a week until the Iowa caucuses and with Bernie Sanders advancing in the polls, Hillary Clinton still hasn't been able to clear away the accusations of dishonesty that have clouded her campaign. At the Democratic presidential town hall on Monday, a Sanders supporter noted that it's a reason Clinton has struggled to attract young voters: "I've heard from quite a few people my age that they think you're dishonest," he said.

Here's the thing, though: There was no cherry tree. Washington's biographer apparently fabricated it. "The great founding myth of American political integrity, chopping down the cherry tree, is, in fact, itself a lie," said Martin Jay, a historian at the University of California at Berkeley and author of a book called "The Virtues of Mendacity."

That's the real lesson of the tale of Washington's cherry tree: Americans might just be overly attached to the ideal of a scrupulously honest president. Especially at a time of intense polarization in Congress, recent experience suggests that the direction of public policy will have little to do with whether the Oval Office's next occupant really believes what he or she says on the campaign trail.



https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/01/28/it-really-doesnt-matter-if-hillary-clinton-is-dishonest/

WOW - talk about your "Establishment Media Bias" - the Washington Post is even making excuses for Hillary

[Kalidurga]

1. They admit she is dishonest.

I would say it's the first step, but it seems as soon as they make that step they run back to denial.

[pangaia]

2. Rave against the machine.

[Kip Humphrey]

3. It matters to me. Reason #3 why I'm voting for Bernie Sanders.

[Buzz cook]

4. Accusations aren't facts

In 92 Al Gore was put on the ticket because he had a well deserved reputation as a "boy scout". By 2000 the accusations that he was a liar were louder than the fact that he was not.

Hillary Clinton is not a scout, but she is not Messalina either. She has been accused but the proof does not follow.

Unfortunately many people have bought into the accusations. In fact it looks as if it's an article of faith.

[TIME TO PANIC]

5. Damn, so the point is...

honesty should not be a factor when choosing who to vote for.

[global1]

6. So Because There Was No Cherry Tree It Is Ok....

to give lying politicians a pass?

[FreakinDJ]

7. No its not alright - Just an editorial making excuses for 1 candidate

[angrychair]

8. Jumping the shark

Wow! A mainstream newspaper, of national and international significance, advocates for apathy towards not only dishonest politicians but dishonest presidents. All while using a story that never actually happened.

THIS is why we need a political revolution.