Lying Politicians

**~~green elephant~~** · 05 Feb 07,, 10:51

I think it is very strange that politicians constantly lie and get away with it. Think about all the lies Tony Blair has said during the course of the Iraq war, not to mention lies concerning internal matters....he has not been forced to leave office despite trying to deceive the British public. The pressure from the media is not enough...most politicians manage to shrug off this pressure without having to face any real consequences...

**dave lukins** · 05 Feb 07,, 15:53

GE can you name one Politician who will tell you the "truth" just ask any of them the time and they will tell you how to make the watch,but you will not be told the time.They can't give each other straight answers in PMQs so we have "no chance"

**Ray** · 05 Feb 07,, 16:17

Politics is the last refuge for scoundrels!

**glyn** · 05 Feb 07,, 17:03

Originally Posted by green elephant

I think it is very strange that politicians constantly lie and get away with it. Think about all the lies Tony Blair has said during the course of the Iraq war, not to mention lies concerning internal matters....he has not been forced to leave office despite trying to deceive the British public. The pressure from the media is not enough...most politicians manage to shrug off this pressure without having to face any real consequences...

The Prime Minister controls the levers of power. Nobody else in the land is as well placed. The public forgets, and newspapers do not have nearly enough sway as they apparently think they have. PM Blair is a wily incumbent of No. 10 and has proved himself to be a survivor. Lame duck premier or not he wont leave until he decides to. Best guess for that is right after the local election results (expected to be a drubbing for New Labour) are known in May.

**MarquezRazor** · 05 Feb 07,, 17:06

The pressure from the media is not enough...most politicians manage to shrug off this pressure without having to face any real consequences

Politicians lie.

Media lies.

Lawyers lie.

And the sun rises in th east.

**~~green elephant~~** · 06 Feb 07,, 09:34

The problem is that if the only consequences a politician currently faces is being voted out, then they can only be held accountable every FOUR years! That is not the case with any other individual, private or public (i.e. corporations etc).
All that will happen after this 4 year period is that another carbon-copy politician will take their place. In the UK, Blair can now do whatever he likes, because he KNOWS that he is going to retire soon anyway... And that he will only be replaced by Gordon Brown or David Cameron... The MD of a major corporation cannot act this way if he plans to retire soon - just think of Enron a few years ago. Lying and cheating in all other public spheres is unacceptable - the democratic system needs to contain a better self-policing element.
Yesterday I found a website which seems to be dealing with these issues:
Ministry Of Truth: Beginners guide to the MINISTRY OF TRUTH
The people are making a documentary about the fact that politicians lie and get away with it...they also to want to take it further i.e. get a law passed

**~~bandwagon~~** · 06 Feb 07,, 15:48

More dangerous than liars are those who allow their own convictions to outweigh the evidence. This is why Blair was never fit to be priminister, not because he is a spinner and liar.

**T_igger_cs_30** · 06 Feb 07,, 17:40

Originally Posted by green elephant

The problem is that if the only consequences a politician currently faces is being voted out, then they can only be held accountable every FOUR years! That is not the case with any other individual, private or public (i.e. corporations etc).
All that will happen after this 4 year period is that another carbon-copy politician will take their place. In the UK, Blair can now do whatever he likes, because he KNOWS that he is going to retire soon anyway... And that he will only be replaced by Gordon Brown or David Cameron... The MD of a major corporation cannot act this way if he plans to retire soon - just think of Enron a few years ago. Lying and cheating in all other public spheres is unacceptable - the democratic system needs to contain a better self-policing element.
Yesterday I found a website which seems to be dealing with these issues:
Ministry Of Truth: Beginners guide to the MINISTRY OF TRUTH
The people are making a documentary about the fact that politicians lie and get away with it...they also to want to take it further i.e. get a law passed

Sorry,not trying to belittle your conviction or believes, but the day anyone can get a law passed to hold politicians in any country accountable for broken promises, not doing the job etc etc, is the day that we will discover that the moon is certainly made of cheese.....

**Ray** · 06 Feb 07,, 18:27

Lies make the politician.

**dave lukins** · 06 Feb 07,, 19:46

Originally Posted by T_igger_cs_30

Sorry,not trying to belittle your conviction or believes, but the day anyone can get a law passed to hold politicians in any country accountable for broken promises, not doing the job etc etc, is the day that we will discover that the moon is certainly made of cheese.....

pass crackers and Branston!!!

**~~green elephant~~** · 07 Feb 07,, 09:58

Actually, a law like this has been passed in the state of southern Australia so it could happen here...no need for the cheese and crackers

**Ray** · 07 Feb 07,, 10:00

I always wonder what school Blair went to!

**T_igger_cs_30** · 07 Feb 07,, 10:24

Originally Posted by green elephant

Actually, a law like this has been passed in the state of southern Australia so it could happen here...no need for the cheese and crackers

Sorry not sure of your set up, is that a provincial(state?) law and what chance it being passed into federal law (national?) to cover the rest of the country...........and how many politicians have so far been held accountable for broken election promises?

**~~green elephant~~** · 07 Feb 07,, 10:31

I'm not sure, I read it in this article...I find the entire website really interesting:

Ministry Of Truth

Type 'Australia' into the 'find' option

**pdf27** · 07 Feb 07,, 10:45

Originally Posted by green elephant

The problem is that if the only consequences a politician currently faces is being voted out, then they can only be held accountable every FOUR years! That is not the case with any other individual, private or public (i.e. corporations etc).
All that will happen after this 4 year period is that another carbon-copy politician will take their place. In the UK, Blair can now do whatever he likes, because he KNOWS that he is going to retire soon anyway...

Errr... sort of. They are still subject to the law of the land (witness the various arrests and police interviews being conducted around Parliament/No.10 at the moment), and they remain Prime Minister for as long as they retain the confidence of Parliament. Every four years or so (and remember we don't have fixed terms - Blair is just acting like it, to fit in with his "Presidential" style) the country selects another Parliament, and anyone who can command a majority of votes becomes Prime Minister. If Parliament decides they like someone else instead, that person becomes Prime Minister.