I’ve been told that liable is intent. If you say something harmful about someone, and didn’t intend to cause them harm, then it isn’t liable. If there is intent, than there isn’t much you can do about. It is very difficult to prove intent. How do you prove what someone is thinking?
To flat out lie, is another kind of story. We all hear things that are untrue all of the time. The news media can call someone a killer, a thief etc. and they put the word alleged in front of it. They lead the public into believing their unproven story. Everything is left to interpretation. They are more than happy to interpret for us. Do you believe them. I don’t. When I was growing up, the News Media reported the news, and a opinion was an Editorial. Now an Editorial is presented as news. This does not mean that I believe everything that the Government or my Political Party says either. It is natural for people to present only one side of an issue when they are trying to influence you to their side. Although I try not to, I’m sure that I do so also.
Legal Lies
The government is another story. The government is allowed to lie to you legally. If you are a candidate running for office a candidate will tell you anything that he thinks you want to hear. He can say anything he wants to about an opponent. In a story, how it is structured can lead a person to certain desired effect. One of the ways is to tell the story out of context. If the story is verbal or filmed, voice inflection, facial expressions etc. can lead someone to the conclusion that the story teller wants. That is one of the reasons for cross examination in a court trial.
Not Legal To Lie
Although some lies are legal others are not. Don’t lie to a federal officer or to congress. If you don’t believe me, ask Martha Stewart. In today’s world life is confusing at best. We need to look hard at both sides of the story very hard. It is harder than ever to get to the truth. I heard a quote once, “A lie goes around the world while the truth is still pulling itself up by the bootstraps.” I am not sure of the exact wording, but the meaning is there.
What is your view?
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