Say it honestly: George W. Bush lied.

I've checked 2 dictionaries, and they agree with the ethics I know from Western and Eastern traditions, and the verdict is clear: Bush lied.

While first definition of to lie has the notion of intent connected with it, the second definition does not; and the transitive form of the verb does not either.

Consider now the Judeo-Christian religious tradition: the Mosaic injunction is not to bear "false witness." Intentionality just isn't part of it, although Catholic theologians have ascribed a greater immorality to intentional false witness.

The Christian deprecation against oaths arises from a similar morality: we are to say "yes" when we mean "yes" all the time, not just as a ceremonial function. Right speech is not simply performative from the Christian tradition: it must be part of everyday behavior.

This is all the more true in Buddhism as well.

And what is right speech? Abstaining from lying, abstaining from divisive speech, abstaining from abusive speech, abstaining from idle chatter: This, monks, is called right speech.

The precept in Buddhism does, in fact, imply a concious choice, but, as we've seen, lying, itself doesn't necessarily imply volition. The morality in Buddhism here goes beyond the morality in the Judeo-Christian tradition: it requires us not merely to not bear false witness, nor to make answering honestly a part of our everyday life, but to use all our speech speech carefully. Good advice for all of us, myself included.


Now whether or not Bush violated the precept on Right Speech is not for me to decide; but clearly we can say Bush lied on weapons of mass destruction, and on many other things.

This makes no difference, I think, to conservatives, who will for their own reasons support George W. Bush no matter what, just as most Americans supported Clintion even though he clearly lied.