The Lying Stateby
Laurence
M. Vance
"Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour" (Exodus 20:16). "Lie not one to another" (Colossians 3:9). The state’s lies are endless. The state is built and maintained by deception, disinformation, falsehood, and lies. But why, after the state has been caught in so many lies, do the American people continue to believe any official government report or pronouncement about anything? The following fifteen lies are here presented in chronological order, and are some of the biggest lies to be found in American history by spokesmen for the state: politicians, government officials, congressmen, presidents, as well as official government publications. Lie No. 1: The Civil War "Apprehension seems to exist among the people of the Southern States that by the accession of a Republican Administration their property and their peace and personal security are to be endangered. There has never been any reasonable cause for such apprehension. Indeed, the most ample evidence to the contrary has all the while existed and been open to their inspection. It is found in nearly all the published speeches of him who now addresses you. I do but quote from one of those speeches when I declare that – ‘I have no purpose, directly or indirectly, to interfere with the institution of slavery in the States where it exists. I believe I have no lawful right to do so, and I have no inclination to do so.’" Abraham Lincoln, First Inaugural Address, March 4, 1861. Lie No. 2: World War I "The world must be made safe for democracy. Its peace must be planted upon the tested foundations of political liberty. We have no selfish ends to serve. We desire no conquest, no dominion. We seek no indemnities for ourselves, no material compensation for the sacrifices we shall freely make. We are but one of the champions of the rights of mankind." Woodrow Wilson, address to joint session of Congress, asking for a declaration of war, April 2, 1917. [It is commonly asserted that Wilson also said that World War I was "a war to end all wars," but I have yet to see any firm documentation that he actually made that statement. The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars has said likewise. The phrase probably originated with H. G. Wells (1866–1946), who wrote a book in 1914 called The War that Will End War. Also, David Lloyd George (1863–1945), in a speech on November 11, 1918, before the House of Commons, was recorded as saying: "I hope we may say that thus, this fateful morning, came to an end all wars."] Lie No. 3: Poverty "We in America today are nearer to the final triumph over poverty than ever before in the history of any land. The poorhouse is vanishing from among us. We have not yet reached the goal, but given a chance to go forward with the policies of the last eight years, we shall soon, with the help of God, be in sight of the day when poverty will be banished from this nation." Herbert Hoover, acceptance speech for the Republican nomination, August 11, 1928, in Palo Alto, California. Lie No. 4: Social Security "After the first 3 years – that is to say, beginning in 1940 – you will pay, and your employer will pay, 1.5 cents for each dollar you earn, up to $3,000 a year. This will be the tax for 3 years, and then, beginning in 1943, you will pay 2 cents, and so will your employer, for every dollar you earn for the next 3 years. After that, you and your employer will each pay half a cent more for 3 years, and finally, beginning in 1949, twelve years from now, you and your employer will each pay 3 cents on each dollar you earn, up to $3,000 a year. That is the most you will ever pay." Social Security Board pamphlet, "Social Security in Your Old Age," 1936. Lie No. 5: World War II "And while I am talking to you mothers and fathers, I give you one more assurance. I have said this before, but I shall say it again and again and again: Your boys are not going to be sent into any foreign wars. They are going into training to form a force so strong that, by its very existence, it will keep the threat of war far away from our shores." Franklin Roosevelt, campaign address, October 30, 1940, in Boston, Massachusetts. Lie No. 6: The Civil Rights Act "If the Senator can find in Title VII any language which provides that an employer would have to hire on the basis of percentage or quota related to color, race, religion, or national origin, I will start eating the pages one after another, because it is not in there." Hubert Humphrey, debate in Congress over the Civil Rights Act, April 9, 1964. [It should be noted that Senator George Smathers, in arguing against passage of the Civil Rights Act, said: "It is not written in the bill that there that there must be a quota system, but the net effect of the adoption of (Title VII) would be that employers, in order to keep themselves from being charged with having discriminated, would, in time, have certain people working for them to meet the color qualifications, the religious qualifications, the creed qualifications, and so on."]
Lie No. 7: The Vietnam War "Last night I announced to the American people that the North Vietnamese regime had conducted further deliberate attacks against U.S. naval vessels operating in international waters, and I had therefore directed air action against gunboats and supporting facilities used in these hostile operations. . . . Our purpose is peace. We have no military, political, or territorial ambitions in the area." Lyndon Johnson, message to Congress, August 5, 1964, before Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution. Lie No. 8: World Peace "When we met here four years ago, America was bleak in spirit, depressed by the prospect of seemingly endless war abroad and of destructive conflict at home. As we meet here today, we stand on the threshold of a new era of peace in the world." Richard Nixon, Second Inaugural Address, January 20, 1973. Lie No. 9: Watergate "People have got to know whether or not their President is a crook. Well, I’m not a crook." Richard Nixon, Associated Press news conference, November 17, 1973, in Orlando, Florida. Lie No. 10: The First Gulf War "I admire your extraordinary efforts to rebuild your country. I know you need funds. We understand that and our opinion is that you should have the opportunity to rebuild your country. But we have no opinion on the Arab-Arab conflicts, like your border disagreement with Kuwait. I was in the American Embassy in Kuwait during the late 60’s. The instruction we had during this period was that we should express no opinion on this issue and that the issue is not associated with America. James Baker has directed our official spokesmen to emphasize this instruction." April Glaspie, U.S. Ambassador to Iraq, meeting with Saddam Hussein, July 25, 1990, before Iraq invaded Kuwait. Lie No. 11: The Atomic Bomb [President Truman’s decision to drop the atomic bombs] "spared millions of American lives." George H. W. Bush, taped interview that aired on ABC’s "This Week With David Brinkley," December 1, 1991; reported in "Bush: No Apology to Japan for A-Bombs," Washington Post, December 2, 1991, A18. Lie No. 12: White House Sex "I have never had sexual relations with Monica Lewinsky. I’ve never had an affair with her." Bill Clinton, deposition in the Paula Jones case, January 17, 1998. Lie No. 13: Iraq’s Chemical and Biological Weapons "We’ve also discovered through intelligence that Iraq has a growing fleet of manned and unmanned aerial vehicles that could be used to disperse chemical or biological weapons across broad areas. We’re concerned that Iraq is exploring ways of using these UAVS for missions targeting the United States." George W. Bush, speech, October 7, 2002, in Cincinnati, Ohio. Lie No. 14: Iraq’s Nuclear Weapons Program "Iraq has attempted to purchase high-strength aluminum tubes and other equipment needed for gas centrifuges, which are used to enrich uranium for nuclear weapons." George Bush, speech, October 7, 2002, in Cincinnati, Ohio. Lie No. 15: Iraq’s Weapons of Mass Destruction "Within a week, or a month, Saddam could give his WMD to al-Qa’ida." Donald Rumsfeld, statement in support of military action against Iraq, November 14, 2002. It is instructive that war is the subject of nine of these lies. The state’s push for war brings out lies like nothing else. How else can you convince people that death and destruction are in their best interests? The lesson here is simple: The next time the state makes a pronouncement about how we need to intervene in some foreign country or about how some kind of food is bad for you or about how the economy needs to be stimulated by some new federal program – take it with a grain of salt.
January 3, 2005 Laurence M. Vance [send him mail] is a freelance writer and an adjunct instructor in accounting and economics at Pensacola Junior College in Pensacola, FL. His new book is Christianity and War and Other Essays Against the Warfare State. Visit his website. Copyright © 2005 LewRockwell.com |
