False or Mis-leading. What's the Difference?

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You'll no doubt be able to answer that yourself at the conclusion of this post. But here are some examples of things that I've seen and heard.

"I did not have sex with Monica." Even though Monica saved her semen stained dress as a momento, President Clinton insisted he didn't have sex with her. I guess that all depends on your definition of sex. And although the American people swallowed it, Monica didn't.

"I'll not raise taxes on middle class Americans." Just one example; If you place higher taxes on coal powered plants, and the company simply passes their costs on to you, then who is paying the tax?

A recent TV advertisement states Toyota offers a lease of their Camry for just $189 a month, or Seven Dollars a day. Do the math. Which is it?

Coco Puffs and Fruit Loops now have "Healthy Choice" labels on their packaging. A nutritian label says that 13 potato chips have 140 calories and 30% fat. Who eats 13 chips?

Ever notice that nearly every time you follow an ad to a car sales lot, that car was "just sold?" Or the car you bought was stickered at 30mpg, but you only get 22.

Weight loss aids that "guatantee" you'll drop 30 pounds in 10 days, yet in small print they admit "results vary by individual." I wonder how many people ever return the product and admit they are still fat. "Lifetime Guarantee?" Who's lifetime? Yours? Or the manufacturer who goes broke in 6 months after selling millions of pieces of crap. A pill to enlarge your penis, make it rock hard, and instantlty improve your sex life. Must be some steriod! Ask Monica.

Many pledge to make you money if you trust them to handle your money. A Ponzi scheme then steals your retirement. To me, there is a big difference than investing your money poorly and stealing it in a Ponzi scheme.

I'm sure we can all think of many others. Some misleading. Some false. But here's the deal. Whether they are false or whether they are misleading, they are not the truth. Therefore, they can not be anything but a lie. And as an Internal Affairs investigator, looking at corrupt cops, we didn't tolerate lies, and those that did lie were dealt with harshly.

But we, as consumers and regular American citizens, generally, seem to tolerate this crap. It's no big deal to lie in order to get elected. No big deal to sell your products though false advertising. No big deal to run a Ponzi scheme.

"Buyer Beware" is the way we tend to address lies. Blame ourselves for falling for it. Accept it, condone it, because that's the way the world works. Well, that is not so much as the "way", but more the "why" the world works the way it does. Because we let it. Because we condone it. Because we accept it.

And some wonder why I don't believe them. If you trust no one then that is to treat everyone the same. But the Thoughts from the Dock are the truth.