This week Arnold Schwarzenegger’s lies and omissions have been all over the news media. Suffice it to say that his portrayal of himself as an action hero, family man, and public servant have been based on some elaborate falsehoods. Arnold, however, is out of office and this story will likely be centered more in Hollywood than Sacramento or Washington.
From Sacramento, however, comes the story that Assembly Speaker Perez has lied about his education. It is reported that he repeatedly asserted that he was a graduate of the University of California Berkeley when it turns out he was not a graduate, but a dropout.
The Speaker has put out a statement apologizing for the “initial mischaracterization” of his academic record. (See http://www.asmdc.org/speaker/news-room/press-releases/item/2601-statement-from-speaker-john-a-perez-regarding-his-uc-berkeley-career) Initial mischaracterization? The dictionary on my desk defines a lie as an “1: untrue statement intended to deceive; falsehood” and “2 anything that deceives or creates a false impression”. It seems obvious that saying you graduated from the University of California at Berkeley when you didn’t is a lie, not an “initial mischaracterization“.
This week's news of lying and philandering politicians intersects with the arrival of a box on my doorstep containing the book Catching Our Flag: Behind the Scenes of a Presidential Impeachment by former Congressman and now Superior Court Judge, James Rogan. Rogan represented a Glendale-Pasadena area congressional district from 1997 through 2001 (I was one of his constituents and a volunteer on his campaigns). His bid for reelection in 2000 was unsuccessful, due to the role he played as a House manager in the impeachment of President Bill Clinton. Judge Rogan has, at long last, written a memoir of the experience. It serves as an important reminder of the damage a breach of the public’s trust can do to our government.
I know Clinton lovers are going to be hostile to the idea of reliving impeachment. Bill Clinton has become an international celebrity and rock star. Clinton has rebounded nicely from impeachment. Unfortunately, time does not remove the stain (I know, bad choice of words when discussing that scandal) on his presidency, and the office of the President, which resulted from the repeated lies he told to the American people.
What Rogan’s book discusses, and what Judge Rogan always maintained, was that this was not a sex scandal. This was about the nation’s chief law enforcement officer lying, not just to the American people in public speeches, but to a federal court judge while under oath. The sad thing is, the public looked the other way with Clinton and threw Rogan out of office.
With this escape hatch in mind, I am sure many of Speaker Perez’ defenders will say that his “initial mischaracterization” of his education does not impact his ability to do his job. This is what Clinton‘s defenders claimed regarding his lying about sex, even if he did it under oath. I am sure the Speaker’s defenders will argue that everybody puffs up their resume. The problem is, when our leaders lie about the base of the simplest things, how can we trust them to tell the truth on issues that really matter? Read Judge Rogan’s book and tell me whether we should keep looking the other way.
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