Pants on Fire

I'm currently reading a book on L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of Scientology, and the picture it paints of the man is far from flattering. According to the author, Lawrence Wright, Hubbard was a compulsive, pathological liar. He embodied a number of other vices as well, but his lies were prodigious. He made up his life's story as he went along and lied to anyone about anything.

I thought of Hubbard's reflexive mendacities as I read a news story the other day that revealed that the State Department had been lying to us about Secretary John Kerry's whereabouts on the day that Egyptian armed forces were defenestrating the Muslim Brotherhood thug Mohammed Morsi.

Just in case there were one or two holdouts, like Japanese soldiers clinging to some Pacific atoll years after the war was over, who still believe that this administration can be trusted to tell the truth about anything here's the background:

CBS reported that on the day Mohammed Morsi was being ushered out of his office Secretary of State John Kerry was seen aboard his yacht in Nantucket.

On the surface, this seemed an inappropriate place for the Secretary of State to be reposing with matters of such moment unfolding in the Middle East, in fact it's reminiscent of President Obama's mysterious absence on the night of the Benghazi horror. So, the media asked the State Department spokeswomen, Jen Psaki, for a clarification of the Secretary's whereabouts on that historic day.

Ms Psaki was adamant that Secretary Kerry was definitely not aboard a boat on Wednesday and had spent the day working the phones on the Egyptian crisis:

“Since his plane touched down in Washington at 4 a.m., Secretary Kerry was working all day and on the phone dealing with the crisis in Egypt,” spokeswoman Jen Psaki said. “He participated in the White House meeting with the president by secure phone and was and is in non-stop contact with foreign leaders, and his senior team in Washington and Cairo. Any report or tweet that he was on a boat is completely inaccurate.”

Unfortunately for Ms Psaki, the CBS people had photographic evidence of Mr. Kerry's nautical preoccupations which forced the State Department to quickly undertake some awkward backing and filling:

As regime change was unfolding in Egypt, Secretary of State John Kerry spent time on his boat Wednesday afternoon in Nantucket Sound, the State Department acknowledged to CBS News on Friday, after repeatedly denying that Kerry was aboard any boat.

“While he was briefly on his boat on Wednesday, Secretary Kerry worked around the clock all day including participating in the President’s meeting with his national security council,” said State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki, naming a series of Egyptian and international officials Kerry had spoken with on Wednesday.

Psaki’s acknowledgment marked a stark reversal from previous denials that Kerry was on any boat whatsoever.

A “CBS This Morning” producer spotted Kerry on his boat Wednesday afternoon on Nantucket, where Kerry has a vacation home. When “CBS This Morning” senior producer Mosheh Oinounou tweeted about the sighting, Psaki issued a denial, calling the tweet “completely inaccurate” and said Kerry has been “working all day and on the phone dealing with the crisis in Egypt.”

I suppose Secretary Kerry could well have been monitoring developments in Cairo from his yacht. Where he was isn't really the point. The point is that his representative, Ms Psaki, chose to lie to us about where he was. It was as if the lie was automatic - ask her a question and, like a gumball machine, she pops out a completely fabricated reply as a matter of course.

Even State's clarification raises questions. If Kerry was on his boat in Nantucket for even part of the day how was he in Washington all day from 4 a.m. on? These people lie so facilely that one wonders if they tell the truth when they're just talking to each other.

If L. Ron Hubbard were alive today he'd be ideally suited for a job in the Obama administration.