Tabberone is pronounced tab ber won |
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Defining lying, or a lie, according to the dictionary
We have found that corporate lawyers, while piously claiming they are "officers of the court" and therefor cannot lie, routinely engage in lying to the Court. In many cases, the lawyers are not deviating from the truth; they are stating facts. However, these facts are often not complete (as in the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, a la the Perry Mason era.) The Catholic Encyclopedia quote above omits another decsription of a lie: when someone tells the truth in such a way as to create a false impression in the mind or view of another. An example of that dates back to a joke from the 1950s. The US and the Soviet Union held a stock car race in which there were only two vehicles; one from each country. The American car won the race. The US newspapers reported that the American car had won the two-car race. The USSR paper reported that the Soviet car had come in second while the American car was next to last. The USSR paper told the truth but only a partial truth; the partial truth created a false impression in the mind of the reader and therefor it was a lie. In our opinion, making a statement of fact that creates a false impression while omitting qualifying details, is a lie. In most cases, corporate lawyers will deny knowing, or being aware, of the "qualifying details" mentioned above, however, that will not prevent them of accusing the other side of the responsibility of being aware of them same of which they are willfully ignorant. Ignorance of the facts has never prevented a lawyer from vigorously defending a client. We have encountered this a number of times dealing with dealing and pleadings from corporate lawyers. |