Keeping things in their proper perspective. By Eric Smith

No presidential lie is ever a good thing; intentional or not. However if a president is going to lie I would much rather it be over an effort to make the sick healthy rather than to make the healthy die. No one will die or be maimed for life because of what President Obama failed to disclose in regards to whether or not people would be able to keep their existing health care plan. Those who originally lost their health care in spite of his earlier assurances that they wouldn't, lost it for one reason and one reason alone; because the policies that were dropped did not meet the new Federal standards which ensured wider coverage and greater guarantees that people would not go bankrupt trying to pay for treatment that their original policies would not cover.

Now some will say a lie is a lie is a lie but understand that not all lies are created equal; not all lies have the same catastrophic consequences. So to those who want to compare President Barack Obama to former President George W. Bush just remember that the so called lie President Obama told led to the shock of having one's coverage unexpectedly dropped. It did not kill or maim anybody whereas the lies President Bush told in order to justify going to war with Iraq, killed & maimed thousands of our men & women in uniform, and caused millions more to lose their homes, jobs, and life savings because of the resulting tanked economy.

Those who lost their health care will get it back; they will be covered, and they would have been covered even if the president did not allow them to keep their existing substandard plans for a year. Yet those who died because of that war in Iraq are never coming back. Those who were needlessly maimed in that war will never be restored to physical & mental health, and those who lost their homes, their jobs, and life savings are unlikely to ever recover their sense of security & peace of mind; all of which were lost because a previous president lied about the reasons for taking this great country into war.

Again, Presidential lies; while terrible, are not created equal and if you doubt this merely pay visit to a military cemetery where these dead warriors from the Iraq War are buried. Visit a military hospital or any psychiatric ward were many survivors of that needless war remain forever maimed in body and soul. Pay a visit to the grieving family members and the shattered family members forever burdened with these wounded warriors care. Speak to those who've lost their homes, their jobs, and their life savings,and then if you dare ask them which presidential lie was worse; one made to make a people whole or one told to tear two nations apart.