CDZ Why is lying on the campaign trail legal?

[Pilate]

As the title suggests. Why is lying on the campaign trail legal? I understand that in certain situations the things said fall into a grey area but at times there are obvious falsehoods.

 

[Auld Phart]

As the title suggests. Why is lying on the campaign trail legal? I understand that in certain situations the things said fall into a grey area but at times there are obvious falsehoods.

Most politicians can't help it.

Most would never be elected if they told the truth

 

[rdean]

As the title suggests. Why is lying on the campaign trail legal? I understand that in certain situations the things said fall into a grey area but at times there are obvious falsehoods.

Free speech.
Besides, without lies, the Right wing would have nothing.

 

[Bob Blaylock]

As the title suggests. Why is lying on the campaign trail legal? I understand that in certain situations the things said fall into a grey area but at times there are obvious falsehoods.

To enact and enforce laws against “lying on the campaign trail” would open a very nasty legal and Constitutional can of worms. Who would have the power to determine which campaign statements are to be prosecuted as “lies”, and what could be done to prevent that decision from being made for political motives? Do you really want that power, at this time, in the hands of the Obama administration, to prosecute Trump for making statements that it claims to be lies, thus biasing the election process in Hilary Clinton's favor? If Trump wins, do you want his administration to have that power to use against possible opponents in the 2020 elections?

 

[Fenton Lum]

As the title suggests. Why is lying on the campaign trail legal? I understand that in certain situations the things said fall into a grey area but at times there are obvious falsehoods.

Most politicians can't help it.

Most would never be elected if they told the truth

Meaning the public cannot handle the truth utlimately, and I agree.

 

[Fenton Lum]

As the title suggests. Why is lying on the campaign trail legal? I understand that in certain situations the things said fall into a grey area but at times there are obvious falsehoods.

Free speech.
Besides, without lies, the Right wing would have nothing.

Actually the entire conceptual underpinnings of america are based upon lies, so yeah, but laying this on the "Right wing" alone is another lie.

 

[Bob Blaylock]

Actually the entire conceptual inderpinnings [sic] of america [sic] are based upon lies, so yeah, but laying this on the "Right wing" alone is another lie.

By “entire conceptual inderpinnings [sic] of america [sic]”, are you referring to the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the principles upon which they were based? Is that what you are saying is based on lies?

 

[Wyatt earp]

As the title suggests. Why is lying on the campaign trail legal? I understand that in certain situations the things said fall into a grey area but at times there are obvious falsehoods.

Free speech.
Besides, without lies, the Right wing would have nothing.

Ya know it's funny I actually did believe obama in 2008 with "hope and change" a "transparent government " I thought him being a black guy, a outsider, he would have been different .


But that dude was the worse of the worse in his lies, with white people I wouldn't have felt let down as I did with obama.


.

 

[presonorek]

As the title suggests. Why is lying on the campaign trail legal? I understand that in certain situations the things said fall into a grey area but at times there are obvious falsehoods.

If this were the law then the law abiding citizen would tell the truth and lose the election. The law breaker would tell lies, not get convicted and win the election. The average human thoroughly enjoys being told a pack of lies. Anybody who has ever worked in customer services knows this. The customer demands to be told lies. Once you indulge them then they are extremely happy. I imagine the same people who are buying products and services are the same people who vote. They crave the lies.

It is naive to believe anything in this world could ever be accomplished without lies. Have you ever gotten a job without lying? Telling the truth is easy and extremely fun but all it accomplishes is pissing people off. Liars are the people who make things happen. Honest people are annoying little pricks that are always stifling progress. Go read The Catcher in the Rye. It could help you understand the place where grown ups live which is full of lies. As a child you are bullied by teachers and parents to always tell the truth. They do that because it makes things easier on them. 100% of grown ups tell lies. Out of that 100% some of them lie so well that they actually make the world a better place. Be one of the good liars and stop being a child. Telling the truth is what children do because they haven't developed their manners and they are afraid of the bullies. You are not a child. Grow up. Lying is great.

 

[Pilate]

As the title suggests. Why is lying on the campaign trail legal? I understand that in certain situations the things said fall into a grey area but at times there are obvious falsehoods.

To enact and enforce laws against “lying on the campaign trail” would open a very nasty legal and Constitutional can of worms. Who would have the power to determine which campaign statements are to be prosecuted as “lies”, and what could be done to prevent that decision from being made for political motives? Do you really want that power, at this time, in the hands of the Obama administration, to prosecute Trump for making statements that it claims to be lies, thus biasing the election process in Hilary Clinton's favor? If Trump wins, do you want his administration to have that power to use against possible opponents in the 2020 elections?

Well why not give the power to our judicial system?

 

[Pilate]

As the title suggests. Why is lying on the campaign trail legal? I understand that in certain situations the things said fall into a grey area but at times there are obvious falsehoods.

Free speech.
Besides, without lies, the Right wing would have nothing.

This has no place on CDZ.

 

[Bob Blaylock]

Well why not give the power to our judicial system?

Anywhere you put that power, you can be certain that it will be abused for partisan motives.

 

[presonorek]

As the title suggests. Why is lying on the campaign trail legal? I understand that in certain situations the things said fall into a grey area but at times there are obvious falsehoods.

Telling the truth is for suckers. The liars are the people who make things happen.

 

[2aguy]

As the title suggests. Why is lying on the campaign trail legal? I understand that in certain situations the things said fall into a grey area but at times there are obvious falsehoods.

Free speech.
Besides, without lies, the Right wing would have nothing.

Let me fix that for you......without lies, the left wing would have nothing....there you go...

 

[320 Years of History]

Why is lying on the campaign trail legal?

Because while campaigning, nobody is under oath to tell "the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth."

 

[Pilate]

Why is lying on the campaign trail legal?

Because while campaigning nobody is under oath to tell "the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth."

And why should they not be? I can think of no situation in which a candidate would be justified in lying to his or her constituents.

 

[C_Clayton_Jones]

As the title suggests. Why is lying on the campaign trail legal? I understand that in certain situations the things said fall into a grey area but at times there are obvious falsehoods.

To make it ‘illegal’ would violate the First Amendment.

 

[Pilate]

As the title suggests. Why is lying on the campaign trail legal? I understand that in certain situations the things said fall into a grey area but at times there are obvious falsehoods.

To make it ‘illegal’ would violate the First Amendment.

The First Amendment is not absolute though. And again, there's no reason at all that a candidate should lie to his constituents. Slander, libel, fighting words, and inciting violence are not protected. Slander and libel really just boil down to harmful spoken/written lies that tarnish a person's reputation therefore just how much of a stretch would it be to outlaw telling flagrantly false statements when the wellbeing of the nation is at stake? When a person's fate is at stake in the courtroom, are involved parties not made to take an oath? Would that oath not violate the first amendment?

 

[320 Years of History]

As the title suggests. Why is lying on the campaign trail legal? I understand that in certain situations the things said fall into a grey area but at times there are obvious falsehoods.

Most politicians can't help it.

Most would never be elected if they told the truth

It is better to offer no excuse than a bad one.
― George Washington​

Red:
Most voters can't tell anyway what is true and what is not so with regard to the complex issues, most especially economic ones, discussed during a political campaign. Legal matters are another area where folks don't really know much. Those are just two examples, and we have seen them played out in the current election cycle.

• Economics: Consider the discussion about free trade. Take the time to get a full understanding of the economics of trade and then apply that understanding to the currently popular rhetoric about trade and trade agreements. What you'll find if you look closely enough (as close as a high school student must in order to prepare for an exam having the questions one would find here) is that neither major candidate favors trade policy that has a damn thing to do with what free trade is about. The candidates are framing free trade issues as though they are about jobs.
  
  Free trade isn't about jobs, it's about goods/services prices; free trade's impact on jobs is just a "follow on" effect, but that effect is entirely controllable/mitigated for by individual workers. In a nation like the U.S., free trade eliminates low-skill jobs and creates high-skill ones, which pay better to boot...the loss of the low-skill jobs being the downside. And what do workers need to mitigate the so-called "downside" of free trade? Nothing more than a high schooler's understanding of economics and then act to increase their skills so they can obtain the high skill jobs that get created.
• Legal: I was surprised when Director Comey announced that criminal charges would not be recommended for Hillary Clinton. He gave his press conference in which he explained why. I didn't know a damn thing about the concept he identified for why: mens rea. I bothered to find out about it -- mainly because I just wanted to understand what he was talking about -- and after having done that, it was clear why charges weren't recommended.
  
  I don't have to like that they didn't bring charges. I don't have to agree that mens rea belongs as a applied concept in U.S. jurisprudence. But at least I now have better sense than to spout off like a damned fool by saying that charges should have been brought. How much effort did I spend in order to understand mens rea? About an hour's worth of reading.

Candidates know this and they avail themselves of the electorate's general dearth of foundational awareness of "how things work" and "what's what" in the world in which we live. Now one can be ticked off at the pols for doing that, but truly, the only person the electorate has to blame for pols being able to do that successfully is each and every individual in the electorate who hasn't honed their understanding to the point that pols could not.

A truth that's told with bad intent
Beats all the lies you can invent.
― William Blake, Auguries of Innocence​

 

[320 Years of History]

Why is lying on the campaign trail legal?

Because while campaigning nobody is under oath to tell "the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth."

And why should they not be? I can think of no situation in which a candidate would be justified in lying to his or her constituents.

Well then, I suggest you begin a movement to have political candidates sworn to tell "the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth while campaigning and in office. That may be a good thing to incorporate into campaign reform. For now, however, there is no such legal mandate.