Politicians Lie And Many People Die

Madame President:

    Your morning briefing...all of us face a dilemma in life, if we tell a lie to a government official it is a crime. In the US the law is 18 USC 1001 with a maximum penalty of 5 years in prison and a $250,000 US fine. I am sure that Argentina, Brasil, Canada, Iran, Europe, Japan, China, Singapore, etc. similar statutes are on the books. On the other hand, politicians and government officials can lie to us and face little or no consequences.

   Let us go back in time. In 1916 Woodrow Wilson got elected president on a promise to keep the US out of World War I. He lied. His goal was to bring the US into World War I. The result is 166,000 Americans died. In 1940 President Franklin D. Roosevelt got reelected to an unprecedented 3rd term promising the American people that he would keep us out of World War II. He was a close friend of Sir Winston Churchill. His intention all along was to bring the US into World War II. What followed caused the deaths of roughly 400,000 Americans with another 70,000 missing and never accounted for. Adolf Hitler came to power and turned the German economy around. By 1938 the German people were enjoying prosperity and great hope in life. Had Hitler died then, he would have gone down in history as one of Germany's great leaders. He promised the German people that he would not bring them into another world war. While telling this lie, he was planning to invade Poland and the Soviet Union. What followed was the bloodiest war in human history. In 1964, President Lyndon Johnson won reelection promising the American people that they would face no new wars. While telling this lie, he was already planning for a big war in Vietnam. The result was over 58,000 Americans died as well as roughly 3.25 million Vietnamese.

    Now we have President Trump promising the world that he does not want a war with Iran. While telling this lie rest assured that military officers at the Pentagon and military officers in other countries are already preparing for such a conflict. My first wife Maria would have a folksy saying about this as follows: "I am quitely sure that something is cooking."