When Does Lying Become Misspeaking?

United States
April 9, 2007 6:35am CST
Is there a difference between lying and misspeaking? McCain misspoke on Baghdad security, he says WASHINGTON: Senator John McCain has issued an apology of sorts for his remarks after visiting a Baghdad market, saying he misspoke when he declared that his ability to walk freely in the marketplace was a sign of a significant improvement in security in Iraq. He led a congressional delegation through the Shorja market the weekend before last, with 100 heavily armed U.S. troops guarding the group and attack helicopters and snipers watching over them. McCain, Republican of Arizona, and another Republican member of the delegation, Representative Mike Pence of Indiana, said the conditions showed that the decision to deploy more than 20,000 additional U.S. forces to Iraq was having the intended effect. Baghdad residents expressed astonishment at McCain's remarks, saying that he had visited the marketplace, the scene of numerous deadly bombings, under unrealistic conditions. Democrats and antiwar bloggers ridiculed him for blindly supporting the Bush administration's so-called surge policy. McCain, in an interview for CBS News' "60 Minutes" on Sunday, acknowledged that his critics were right. Patterns of Iraq war shift amid U.S. force buildup Zimbabwe's government responds with violence Ethiopia bought arms from North Korea with U.S. assent"Of course, I am going to misspeak and I've done it on numerous occasions and I probably will do it in the future. I regret that when I divert attention to something I said from my message, but you know, that's just life." On CBS television on Feb. 28, McCain criticized management of the war, saying, "We've wasted a lot of our most precious treasure, which is American lives, over there." He apologized the next day saying he should have said "sacrificed."
1 person likes this
6 responses
• United States
10 Apr 07
Sounds like a politician to me! LOL I think you answered your own question when you mentioned WHO it was that said this... a politician. It's a matter of double talk if you ask me.
1 person likes this
@jennybianca (12912)
• Australia
10 Apr 07
I don't think there is a lot of difference between lying & mispeaking, in fact there is probably none. We have this issue with my step son a lot, who claims his lies, are just a mistake he made in speaking. These politicians would do better to understand that "mispeaking" is not acceptable in any situatuions when they are representing the Country
@weemam (13372)
9 Apr 07
I am not good with politics pal nor politicians but one thing I can say you will never get a straight answer , The one only pulls down the other , you get the answer to a question with another question , I just let them get on with it and make themselves look like complete idiots , doesn't matter what country they come from x
@lonewolfnan (4366)
• Canada
10 Apr 07
I would like to go in another direction with this.There is a HUGE difference between the useage of the word "wasted" and the word "sacrificed" and since a politician likes to play games with words,this person totally switched the meaning of his comment . Add this gem to his unrealistic views of being "safe" in the market in Iraq,I can not understand how he is going to be re-elected.
@Lakota12 (42600)
• United States
9 Apr 07
oh my thats politicains for ya and here I was thinking he might make a good pres. He better clean up his speaches or make sure his writer is with the program
1 person likes this
• United States
9 Apr 07
well, I am not a huge McCain fan or anything, but I know sometimes you say things without fully thinking them through. Maybe he said what he said and then, after hearing the thoughts about it being unrealistic conditions, he realized that they were right. I think that makes it NOT a lie. Who knows...with politicians, you never know. Maybe he did lie and thought he could get one over on us, but too many people stood up and spoke up so he thought he had to apologize. I just know that I have found myself saying something and then someone will point out another point of view and I realize that I might have been wrong.
1 person likes this