President Obama is such a glib liar that it is hard to keep up with his act. The Washington Post’s Glenn Kessler treats us to one microscopic example in an online column that is actually worth reading: “Four Pinocchios for Obama’s claim that Republicans have ‘filibustered about 500 pieces of legislation.’” Kessler scrutinizes Obama’s claim at a DCCC fundraising dinner on Wednesday:
“Here’s what’s more disconcerting. Their [Republicans] willingness to say no to everything — the fact that since 2007, they have filibustered about 500 pieces of legislation that would help the middle class just gives you a sense of how opposed they are to any progress — has actually led to an increase in cynicism and discouragement among the people who were counting on us to fight for them.”
Kessler judges this claim to be false. What is most interesting, however, is Kessler’s description of the calculation that has gone into the falsehood. Welcome to Obamaland:
Obama’s [filibuster] count also includes at least a half-dozen instances when Republicans were blocked by Democrats through use of the filibuster. In fact, in the biggest oddity, the president reached back to 2007 in making his claim, so he includes two years when he was still a senator. On eight occasions, he voted against ending debate—the very thing he decried in his remarks.
In his conclusion, Kessler notes that Obama “inflated the numbers to such an extent that he even included votes in which he, as senator, supported a filibuster.” As with Harry Reid’s endless defamation of the Koch brothers, characterizing the statement as a falsehood doesn’t begin to do justice to what is happening here.
The new issue of the Weekly Standard brings two more examples that will be overly familiar to Power Line readers. Steve Hayes reviews the lies emanating from the White House on Benghazi in “Who’s crazy?”
And the lies of Obamacare comes under the review of Jay Cost in “Obamacare myth making.” Cost examines five phony success stories promulgated by liberals about Obamacare. Cost does not note the fact, but I believe it is nevertheless true: Obama has been a talkative retailer of each of the “myths.”
When it comes to lying, Bill Clinton may still be considered the reigning champion, and there is certainly a strong case to be made on his behalf. Considering the deep lies of Obamacare, however, and the lack of conscience Obama demonstrated in promulgating them in order to get the law enacted, Obama’s right to the title really ought to be recognized by now.
NOTE: The heading for this post is in the spirit of the old Saturday Night Live “Quien Es Mas Macho?” sketch with Bill Murray, which is available for viewing here.
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