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To The Editor:
One more letter about politicians and morality, if you can stand it.
I am writing in response to the dozens of letters about Mr Clinton,
George Will's wonderful article about the criminal antics of
Illinois' Sen Carol Mosely-Braun, but mostly about the letter "A
Personal Matter" which has granted to all Americans a new
'right' to lie, under oath, if asked about sexual activities. Let me
first thank the TIMES for its editorial in praise of Sen Leiberman's
simple and direct statements about the impact to our sons and
daughters of America's evolving acceptance of self-serving deceit,
immorality and amorality, and the decades-old fraud called
'situational ethics'.
I wonder what childhood lessons would lead an American adult to feel
indignity over a politician being held accountable for their actions
and a new found 'right to lie' under oath? Did you get away with
lying about a broken window? Did you get away with a lie about
illicit sexual activity? Did you steal something, then lie to avoid
the consequences? Exactly when does a person decide that we have
"a right to lie" about ANYTHING under oath (in court) or
where personal integrity is at stake (in personal dealings). Is it OK
to lie about the condition of a used car? Isn't your tax-return
"nobody's business"? Is it OK to lie under oath to the IRS?
How is it that Mr Clinton ended up subpoenaed to discuss his sexual
activities in the first place? Did Marv Albert have a "right to
lie" during his recent criminal prosecution? Does a philandering
husband have a "right to lie" during sworn testimony at a
divorce proceeding.
A better question, of course, is how far will our children spread the
blanket of 'acceptable' lies? Will our offspring consider 'only petty
theft' or 'vehicular manslaughter' to be "nobody else's
business". That is the question each and every one of us must
ask when we look ourselves in the mirror or think about what we tell
our children to do while we do otherwise. For the record: it is the
5th amendment, not perjury, that is the acceptable avenue for
inappropriate questions asked under oath and a simple response of
"MYOB", not a lie, to snoops. This is no small distinction,
it is called integrity! |
