LYING POLITICIANS: Is it okay for Politicians to tell "Little white lies"?

The House Ethics Committee declined to punish Greenfield Republican Clel Baudler for lying.

Baudler recently visited family in California.  He said on that trip he lied to get a prescription for medical marijuana...by claiming to have hemorrhoids.

Baudler says he never intended to get the marijuana.  He only wanted to show how easy it is for people to get a fraudulent prescription.
Join us on Facebook!

But is it right for our elected leaders to lie to get information?

A young George Washington couldn't lie to his father about cutting that cherry tree, but ever since...Americans have questioned their politicians' words.

President Richard Nixon said this about the Watergate break in scandal; "People have to know whether their president's a crook. We'll, I'm not a crook."  But the man who replaced him pardoned him anyway.

President Bill Clinton said this about an infamous fling; "I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky."  His wife might disagree.

And as a candidate, George H. W. Bush said this; "Read my lips...no new taxes."  American taxpayers later found out otherwise.

Last week, six Iowa lawmakers gathered around a table to decide whether to punish a co-worker about his words.

Greenfield Republican, Clel Baudler, doesn't deny he lied about his health to get a medical marijuana prescription.  "Did I lie? Hell, I've never had hemorrhoids."  He added, "I did not lie to a doctor, I lied to a government sponsored drug dealer masquerading as a doctor. He was no more a doctor than I am purple."

Best we can tell, Baudler's not purple.  But is it ok he lied...even if he colors it just a white lie?

All six members of the House Ethics Committee ruled it's not their jurisdiction to punish him for failing to tell the truth.

But Representative Scott Raecker wouldn't criticize Baudler for lying.  Raecker's day job is the Executive Director of Character Counts. The group adheres to the six pillars of character.  The blue pillar is trustworthiness.

And the first words on the group's website describing it are "Be Honest."

When asked if he would lie to get information, Raecker says, "My professional pursuits are ethics and character development and we spend a lot of time on this. And it's an act of trustworthiness."  But then he added this, "If Anne Frank were in my attack and the Nazis were at my door asking... that's a tough questions. But I believe I would lie to them for the greater good."

In Baudler's case, it's not to protect a little girl from near certain death from the Nazis during a World War... but he believes his lie is also for the greater good.  He says he did it, "To show how asinine California's law is and how stupid it would be for us to be bullied into something like medical marijuana or recreational marijuana in Iowa."

Baudler says his grandchildren would understand his lie because of what he was trying to do.

Iowans have quite a range of opinions on this on the WHO Facebook page.  Barb Holst of Des Moines' is a little skeptical of politicians. She writes, "Don't they lie anyways?"

Tammie Wickett Hoffmann agrees with what Representative Baudler did. She wrote, "Obviously he did lie and admitted doing so. I applaud his honesty and mission to show how easily this could be obtained."