Mark Shields: How dumb do they think we are?

[steve2470]

http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/07/18/how.dumb/

Monday, July 18, 2005; Posted: 7:44 p.m. EDT (23:44 GMT)


WASHINGTON (Creators Syndicate) -- In my line of work, you get lied to a lot.

There are the generally forgettable fibs, like a senator who's making his seventh political trip to New Hampshire since the first of the year insisting he has made no decision about a White House run.

The falsehoods you remember are bold and brassy. I will never forget President George H.W. Bush stating with a straight face that the nominee's race had never even crossed his mind when he picked Clarence Thomas for the Supreme Court.

Presidential candidate Bill Clinton demonstrated early his flair for fiction by contradicting all his campaign's previous statements on his non-service in the military when he admitted that, yes, during the Vietnam War he actually had received a draft notice calling him to military service.

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