Why? Because, he said, misleading statements sometimes are needed to protect foreign policy interests. "It's easy to imagine an infinite number of situations where the government might legitimately give out false information," Olson said.

Even if you're a bible-believing fundamentalist who thinks Robert Bork and William Bennett are the true guardians of Western morality, you don't necessarily have to get your prayer beads in a knot over this one.

According to the first chapter of Exodus, the Egyptian midwives, Shiph'rah and Pu'ah, were blessed by the Lord (the same God who decreed "thou shalt not bear false witness") despite their lying. In their case, they didn't lie to the people, but to Pharaoh, who had instituted a policy of male infanticide. Bottom line: the midwives misinformation move was an act of moral courage that saved Moses' life so he could lead the Israelites out of bondage.

But unless, or until, Bush can spontaneously combust and burn without being consumed, I, for one, am not too comfortable swallowing whole Olson's notion of Uncle Sam having the right to lie.

If he had said: "Government officials have a tendency to lie, if they think telling the truth will unnecessarily harm foreign policy interests," the wire story about his testimony probably wouldn't have caused me to give it a second thought.

After all, even the most cursory review of Cold War history will reveal that the feds lying to cover their foreign policy tracks is nothing new. But a right to lie?

If our government has a right to lie, then we citizens have a duty to be skeptical about official statements.

Just don't tell Attorney General John Ashcroft I said that. I don't want to end up a "detainee" in this war on terrorism for suggesting that American citizens actually question policy pronouncements because, after all, our government has the right to lie, especially when it comes to war.

Consider the recent release of more Nixon Oval Office tapes. Most commentators have focused on what the former president had to say about the Vietnam War. But the researchers at Common Sense for Drug Policy unearthed a major root of another war - the war on drugs (see www.csdp.org).

In 1971, Nixon appointed a National Commission on Marijuana and Drug Abuse, a.k.a. the Shafer Commission, whose charge it was to do extensive weed research and then make some policy recommendations.

"You know, it's a funny thing, every one of the bastards that are out for legalizing marijuana is Jewish. What the Christ is the matter with the Jews, Bob?...I suppose it is because most of them are psychiatrists," Nixon said in a May 1971 meeting. He went on to explain that people drink alcohol "to have fun" but weed-smokers light up just "to get high."

Little wonder Washington Post staff writer Gene Weingarten wrote a piece recently, asking: "Just what was he smoking?"

In another meeting, Nixon met with then-Pennsylvania governor Raymond P. Shafer about the commission's work. "You're enough of a pro to know that for you to come out with something that would run counter to what the Congress feels...and what we're planning to do, would make your commission just look bad as hell," Nixon told Shafer, when he learned that the commission was about to recommend marijuana be legalized.

Kevin Zeese, president of Common Sense for Drug Policy, reports that since the commission issued its recommendation that marijuana offenses not be a crime, 15 million people have been arrested on marijuana charges.

"Dope? Do you think the Russians allow dope? Hell no. Not if they catch it, they send them up. You see, homosexuality, dope, uh, immorality in general: these are the enemies of strong societies. That's why the Communists and the left-wingers are pushing it. They're trying to destroy us," Nixon said, explaining his justification for the "all-out war" on marijuana use.

Of course, as Weingarten observes, the "Jew-homo-doper-Commie-shrink-lefty cabal has not, to date, destroyed us." What Weingarten didn't say was: The war on drugs is shrouded in misinformation, covering up the destruction it has wrought in both foreign and domestic places.

In a 1999 campaign speech, President Bush noted that "America has tripled its prison population in the last 15 years," which has resulted in "a problem - an estimated 1.3 million children who have one or both parents in prison."

Time for another commission to review our national drug laws. But this time we ought to demand a truth and reconciliation commission to counter the right to lie and affirm our right to truth and justice.

Sean Gonsalves is a Cape Cod Times staff writer and syndicated columnist. He can be reached via email: sgonsalves@capecodonline.com

Copyright © 2002 Cape Cod Times

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