Lies, Lies, Lies... Yeah! (They're Gonna Get You)

David Gergen: "The deep and searing violation took place when he not only lied to the country, but co-opted his friends and lied to them. That is one on which people choke." Chris Matthews: The president, he went on, "has broken and shattered contracts publicly and shamefully. He violates the trust at the highest level of politics." Matthews, now a Washington columnist for the San Francisco Examiner and host of CNBC's "Hardball," also says, "There has to be a functional trust by reporters of the person they're covering." Alan Simpson: "There is only one question here," says the former (Republican) senator. "Did he raise his right hand and lie about it and then lie again? Lying under oath -- that to me is all there is. Did this man, whether he is head of the hardware store or the president or applying for a game and fishing license, raise his hand and say, 'This is the truth'?" Joe Lieberman: "His behavior," says Lieberman, "is so over the edge. What is troubling is the deceit, the failure to own up to it. Before this is over the truth must be told." (Former Democratic Senator) Sam Nunn: "People say that moral authority is not needed . . . but the trust factor is the single most important factor of leadership whether it be for a minister, a CEO, a senator or a president." Presidential historian Doris Kearns Goodwin knows something about the office and "the authority, the esteem, the respect in which the presidency is held. When you take the precious resource of a president's ability to mobilize people and employ that resource into a campaign of deception . . . when you lie to the country, you are using your authority to undermine the presidency."

Shocking, isn't it.

It's great to see some folks finally coming out with some harsh words for President... whoops... waitasec... these quotes aren't about President Bush taking the nation to war under false pretenses--they're about President Clinton's lil' escapade with an intern.

They're actually from an article by the Washington Post's Sally Quinn back in 1998 about how the small, insular community of Washington D.C. was shocked (shocked!!!) by the brazen lies of the President of the United States. It comes to us today via David Sirota and Atrios, who post it in response to Drudge's reference to it in conjunction with one of his "news flashes" about an upcoming book covering the Clinton scandals.

Well, I guess when there are so many lies at so many levels and over a greater amount of time when compared to one Clinton's single lie about sex with an intern, it can be hard to see the forest from the trees.