The Art of Lying..............Let's Bring Back Dueling!!!!

I was in Court not too long ago with a notorious sleazeball lawyer as my adversary. The guy is a liar and he outright lied to the Judge while insulting my honor. I walked his way and came within a couple inches and loudly called him a liar.  As it appeared that I was going to punch him, the deputies sprang into action and the Judge admonished me. I could have very easily been locked up, but I have no regrets for defending my honor. This other lawyer, who has no respect for the truth will lie to the Court again and again simply because he can get away with it. There are few consequences to being untruthful in our Court system and in our national political arena, and this my friends is much of what is wrong with our country today.
 

This other lawyer has no shame to lie, no moral compunction nags at his conscience telling him not to lie. It would be damaging for him to have the Court sanction him for lying, but he knows that this is a remote possibility, because Courts don't have the time or inclination to pursue such things and if they did, he could always lie about the lies he told. Thus, lying to the slippery, parasite lawyer is a legal standard that has to  be adjudicated, instead of a simple right and wrong standard adhered to by one's soul.  The fact that others know he is a liar means nothing; there is no shame. These are the types of folks who become politicians (this guy ran for office) and sadly these are the folks who inhabit Washington.
 

Dueling Pistols

I understand why dueling was so prevalent in America and lasted well into the 19th century, especially in the South. The only way to protect your honor is to be willing to sacrifice everything to keep it. The one being "called out" had the opportunity to retract his lie or modify his misstatement. Surely, this system helped keep the pettifogging political classes in check,  as the consequences, a bullet at 20 paces, outweighed the immediate benefits of the lie.
 

How Do You Know When
 A lawyer Is Lying?

Our culture is being rotted by the fact that, among our so called leaders,  there simply is no shame or stigma to lying; in fact, the bigger liar one is, the more rewards there are. If the art of lying is perfected and executed, peerage status among the Washington nobility awaits. My work brings me in touch with all kinds of elected officials, including on occasion various congressmen and senators in DC.  I recently called to congratulate a member of the Board of Supervisors (pseudonym "Homer") in a rural Virginia county who I had had the privilege of working with. Homer, a hard working good ole boy, just won re-election. He is awesome because he is unscrupulously honest and humble. Upon concluding our conversation, he stated "Robbie, if I start getting too big for my britches, I want you to tell me and keep me in line." I love this guy. Sadly, Homer will never represent us in Washington, because Homer cannot lie, he cannot manipulate people and he cannot advocate anything that his conscience tells him is wrong.

If every politician in Washington was like Homer, we  would have a very limited government and no national debt. Instead, we have the opposite, and virtually no Homers. The Big Lie in Washington is that "Big Government Works." The charlatans who advocate on behalf of the omnipotent state deserve to be called out for their lies and manipulation.

There will always be good and bad people. However, we as a country (and a culture) need to bring back the stigma and shame associated with lying, such that we can be led by the "good people," instead of the "bad."

 Dueling anyone?