Do we need to make lying a capital crime?

The nation's elitists seem to think it is their God-given right to lie to the rest of us. Lying is nothing more than an unwarranted exercise of power against another person. By framing the situation as other than it really is, the liar influences events and outcomes in his or her favor. The liar's victim loses.

While lying has been with us for millennia, God has always equated lying about another person (bearing false witness) as the equivalent of murder, so making lying a capital crime may not be as far-fetched as some think. The Ten Commandments are still foundational to much of the Western legal tradition.

It used to be that horse traders, then used car salesmen and finally politicians were considered to be the most accomplished liars. Perhaps because politicians have had the most free time to perfect the vice of lying to groups of people, they are today the unquestioned champions of mass deceit (especially when aided by the mass media).

When House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff can stand up and read an entirely fabricated telephone transcript between the presidents of the U.S. and Ukraine into the congressional record as a true account, and suffer no repercussions, I think it is well past time to consider a more permanent solution for our nation's lying class.

This is especially true when the act has been done for personal or political gain, it deceived voters of the president’s truthfulness, and painted a false picture of our nation’s trustworthiness and reliability in the community of nations.

It could be argued that disciplining such individuals must be left up to the voters. This fails, though, because the voters are the primary target of these liars. And unless the lies can be exposed near election time, voters are unlikely to factor in such political dishonesty. Plus, it leaves the victim without remedy for the crime committed against him or her.

The major work of the courts is exposing lies as part of establishing the truth of a given situation, so that justice can be done. They have various tools for this, including investigations and calling and cross-examining witnesses. Sometimes the uninitiated have trouble discerning between opposing counsel and professional liars, though.

Some still believe that the media are responsible for ferreting out lies in the public discourse. To the extent this function ever existed, it died with the era of the mouse click, which now gives big media the ability to discover which “head-lies” garner the most mouse clicks and therefore advertising dollars.

While it is not likely possible to make lying by one individual to another a capital crime, doing so for our political class would yield immediate benefits to the rest of the nation. Politicians elected to office would actually do what they promised during the campaign; this in itself is a major win.

A capital crime also operates as a deterrent to new offenders. And certainly, a capital crime eliminates repeat offenders. The downstream effect also would likely make individual lies between private parties less acceptable.

Has the time finally come?

Reconnaissance. A novel by Craige McMillan.