Which matters most. Whether or not politicans lie? Or which party they belong to when they lie?

Mark Sanford vs Anthony Weiner

Sanford just kept on going with a Jesus saves and thin apology. The bible fans are big on forgiveness. So he sailed through.

I’m a Democrat and think Weiner is a bag of shit that needed the boot.

Well like you said, they all lie, so I’ll vote for the liar whose policy I agree with rather than the liar whose policy I don’t agree with.

For what it’s worth, despite the “crooked Hillary” smear campaign, she’s one of the more honest candidates we’ve had.

For me, it’s more about what the lie is and how it is delivered. I agree all politicians lie, or they bend the truth or lie by omission, but there are some lies that are unforgivable. For instance, in 2001, just prior to an election, Australian Coalition (Liberal and National parties) Government ministers said asylum seekers who were travelling to Australia by boat threw their children into the ocean as a way to get the navy to rescue them so they’d be taken to Australia. This was a lie. However, it allowed the Coalition Government to whip up public anger against asylum seekers and support for the need for stronger border protection and to paint the opposition as weak. That really is an unforgivable lie.

I expect politicians to say they won’t cut funding or they will support certain things only for them to then say ‘ahhh the budgetary situation we have now found means we can’t uphold that promise’. However, it again depends on how the promises are made and broken. I would admit to expecting the Coalition to lie more than I expect the ALP to lie. My experience has been that the Coalition are more likely to be untruthful.

It’s all about who lies better.

I don’t understand why more people don’t think that both parties, and their candidates lie.

Especially at higher levels of the government.

IMO , partisanship has no influence on my opinion that they are ALL liars,cheats, and probably bad people. Who did whatever necessary to get to where they are.

I think it depends partly what they are lying about.

This election has very blatantly shown how hypocritical people are. I find it incredibly annoying. People are so blinded by party it has become absurd.

Yes, lies come with the territory and for the most part, political elections are a Hobson’s choice.

Lies are the currency that elevates one candidate and tears the other down. Harry Reid is now a legend with what he said/did to thwart Romney in the previous election….

“Harry Reid tripled down on the accusation later that day in a statement saying that he was told by an “extremely credible source” that Romney hadn’t paid taxes for 10 years. The bogus claim created a media firestorm at the time, and earned Reid a “pants on fire“ rating from PolitiFact and “four Pinocchios“ from Washington Post Fact Checker Glenn Kessler, who wrote that Reid “has no basis to make his incendiary claim” But Reid has no regrets. “I don’t regret that at all,” he told CNN’s Dana Bash on Tuesday in the interview clip above. “Romney didn’t win did he?””

Harry Reids’ lies were the coup de grâce for Romney and did the job the Dems wanted….this time around fabricated lies were not needed as there were an over abundance of truths about Hillary that Trump didn’t have to make anything up to take her down.

All politicians lie. That’s a given.

I look for trends. If I hear 1000 politicians speak, and the most egregious lies are from Republicans (say, 70% of the lies are from GOP people) that it suggests a trend. No, not every republican is a horrible liar, but there is a 7 in 10 chance that it will be.

You see, this is what makes voters so fucking frustrating. The amount that will vote for the camdidate from their favoured party regardless of who that may be, is staggering.
A hugely flawed concept that only adds to the irony when they then whine when that candidate loses.

The level of forgiveness for your candidate’s lies is increased by the level of hatred you have for the opposing candidate. Trump could never have gotten the number of votes he received had it not been for the (unfounded) level of hatred and mistrust of Hillary. In the end, it was the Hillary hatred of Bernie supporters that allowed the Trump victory, coupled with the misogynists and racists who felt empowered by Trump.

It’s about the particular lie, how serious it is, and how it’s delivered. Bill Clinton lying about getting a blowjob? Not a huge offense, and frankly none of anyone else’s (beyond him and his wife) business to begin with. Mark Sanford disappearing to another country to have an affair while claiming to be hiking in the Appalachians? That’s a little more egregious.

@filmfann I think in many cases it’s more than forgiveness. It’s blindness.

@Darth_Algar . Sanford was reelected….

Yaaaayyy democracy! ~

We found out this election that a democracy is only as good as its citizens. We also found out we have a lot of shitty citizens.

Shame we have an electoral college too.

Shitty election system + shitty candidates × shitty citizens = Trump presidency…..

Good question, and I would believe it depends on which side they are on and which side you stand on as well.
People screamed Hillary was an out right liar, and it was documented Trump spouted way more lies but they just kept screaming she was the liar.
And just shrugged at Trumps lies WHY?
Because they sided themselves as Rep/cons and just said all politicians lie.