Lying and perjury are two different things. Everyone lies. Few people perjure themselves under oat

oath. Weiner lied, but did not perjure himself, and big deal.

Politicians, however, walk a fine line. Completely dependent on the votes of their constituents, they're sort of under oath all the time, as far as many voters are concerned. A smart politician avoids situations that could put them in the position of embarrassment or the need to lie. A not so smart politician believes that nobody will discover his or her personal peccadilloes, an error of judgment that is, sadly, often made.

The natural impulse, when faced with an embarrassing personal disclosure, is to lie about it. We learn how to do that as children, when Mom wonders where those cookies went. Mom usually knows when we're lying, though, and some of us learn that the consequences for lying are often more serious than for taking the cookies in the first place.

Weiner made three serious errors in judgment. The first was to engage in this sort of adolescent sexual fantasy life. The second was to believe, for some completely incredible reason, that it would not be discovered. That displays a distinct lack of knowledge of the realities of life on the Internet. The third was to dissemble when confronted with evidence of the first two errors. That was the most serious lapse of judgment. Voters will forgive petty sexual behavior flaws. In this case, nobody ever even met in person. Voters may think you're naive or stupid for thinking you could get away with that stuff, but that won't cost you their vote if you do the things they want you to do. But...if you lie about something as silly as this on-line flirting and nonsense when you're exposed, that changes things. Now, you've demonstrated that you not only have poor judgment about sexual matters, but that you'll lie about something that silly to "protect" yourself. The logical conclusion is that if you'd lie about something nobody really cares about, why would you tell the truth about something important.

That last thing is the killer. Bill Clinton got away with it. Anthony Weiner probably won't. He just doesn't have enough going for him yet.

And, for the record, Bill Clinton lost my respect due to his lies about his stupid sexual escapades.

nt

he created the mess.

Bad judgment all around.