Who’s Lying Now?
I find the Webster dictionary to be of great value when trying to understand the world. Words have very specific meaning and very specific consequences. We hear a lot of lies these days and a lot of explanations as to why they are or are not lies. Washington is full of people whose job it is to make you think that what you heard was not actually a lie but was an honest depiction of the truth or the truth as they see it.
To help you identify a liar I have taken six random names from the newspaper. They have been written about lately and they have said things in the past that are not explicitly untrue but like the lie itself can be up to interpretation. The names will be lettered and your fun activity is to match the numbered Webster definitions with the individuals listed. There are different numbered groups. Group I is a list of characteristics of people who are telling a lie. Group II is a list of types of lies, Group III is a list of rational and a special category. (Extra credit) See if any of these individuals can be identified with one or more of these definitional characteristic of people who have trouble expressing themselves truthfully..
A. Neil Gorsuch
B. Brett Kavanaugh
C. Samuel Alito
D. Amy Barrett
E. John Roberts
F. Clarence Thomas
Group I
Being vague; offering few details.
Repeating questions before answering them.
Speaking in sentence fragments.
Failing to provide specific details when a story is challenged.
Group II
1. Lies of Denial. This type of lie will involve an untruthful person (or a truthful person) simply saying that they were not involved.
2. Lies of Omission. ...
3. Lies of Fabrication. ...
4. Lies of Minimization. ...
5. Lies of Exaggeration.
Group III
1. Deceitful
2. Duplicitous
3. Delusional
4. Demoralized
5. People can lie to two kinds of audiences: other people or themselves, and they can lie about two different kinds of things: Facts (or what they believe to be facts) and their values
Special Category:
Definition of Uncle Tom: (Entry 1 of 3)
1. disparaging : A Black person who is overeager to win the approval of whites (as by obsequious behavior or uncritical acceptance of white values and goals)
2. disparaging : a person who is overly subservient to or cooperative with authority
3. Uncle Tom, pious and faithful Black slave in Uncle Tom's Cabin (1851–52) by Harriet Beecher Stowe
It has been a rough year if you are a woman or a child in school