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In her 1979 book, Lying: Moral Choice in Public and Private Life , philosopher Sissela Bok wrote, "Political lies, so often assumed to be trivial by those who tell them, rarely are. They cannot be trivial when they affect so many people ... . When political representatives or entire governments arrogate to themselves the right to lie, they take power from the public that would not have been given up voluntarily."We are a nation filled with high-paid liars: politicians, lobbyists, spin doctors, press secretaries, White House correspondents. Most of their lies are not Platonic "noble lies" told to safeguard social harmony. Most are intended to ignobly deceive. In the process, they do irreparable harm to the body politic. In that spirit, the Republican National Convention last week was a veritable Liars Club. It was willful deception as party platform. [more

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