Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, November 6, 1994 TAG: 9411160042
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: B2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Even the bitterest of opponents refrained from hurling this particular epithet - though they often clearly meant to convey it with accusations couched more politely: untruths, deliberate distortions, fabrications, falsehoods, etc.
In the current political season, ``liar'' has been used so regularly in candidates' radio and television ads that one might think it is required by the Federal Communications Commission. It flies from the lips of candidates on the stump, too. As a result, it peppers media coverage of campaigns and informs voters' sense of the mendacity of politics generally.
And not just in Virginia, though it's possible the commonwealth has witnessed a record-breaking outpouring. All across the country, "liar" seems to have become the zinger of first resort in expressions of political opinion.
On this newspaper's Opinion and Commentary pages alone, well over 50 uses of the words ``liar'' and ``lies'' have appeared just since the first of the year. (And that doesn't count their burgeoning presence in news columns.) Most of these references were in letters to the editor, either attacking or defending Virginia's U.S. Senate candidates. Some also were aimed at America's president and past presidents for good measure.
Considering that GOP senatorial candidate Oliver North has been publicly branded a liar by a host of national figures - including most recently by former first lady Nancy Reagan - and that incumbent Democrat Charles Robb's veracity is hardly above reproach, it may not be surprising that the equivalent of "liar, liar, pants on fire" has become common in Virginia political discourse.
Not surprising. But still sad, that such accusations have lost their shock, and that so many believe our leaders' honor and integrity can be summed up in this four-letter sound bite.
Keywords:
POLITICS
by CNB