(7 of 7)
After Vietnam, Watergate, Iran-contra and the Gary Hart indiscretion, it is hard to make a case against the public's right to know. But not impossible. Candor is necessary when it really matters, and little more than a nuisance when it doesn't. At the moment, people are unsure which is which. A lie may be a defensive response to an unwarranted invasion of privacy. The oddity that Oprah and Phil and Geraldo can attract guests willing to confess anything on TV does not oblige everyone else to bare all when asked.
St. Augustine defined all lies as sins because they misused God's gift of speech. In a better world than this one, people would agree and act accordingly. In fact, in a better world lies would not be necessary at all, since the truth would be self-evident and foolish to deny or attempt to refute. The world we have discourages such certainties. Lies will continue to be told, as will the difficulty of recognizing them as such. But some modicum of trust will probably also survive, as it has through notable periods of lying in the past. When the perception of lying grows too acute, some shift, some click in the social consciousness, takes place: Danger ahead. The bad, suspicious mood of this political year is a sign of health, a recognition that the private advantages of lying are being eclipsed by the communal necessity to tell -- or to try to tell -- the truth.
CHART: NOT AVAILABLE
CREDIT: From a telephone poll of 848 likely voters taken for TIME/CNN on Sept. 22-24 by Yankelovich Clancy Shulman. Sampling error is plus or minus 3%.
CAPTION: Is there more honesty in government today than 10 years ago?
Are these statements by Bush a lie?
Are these statements by Clinton a lie?
Who has been less truthful since the start of the campaign?