In the Right

If telling the "whole truth" doesn't bring with it a responsibility to "go out of his way on anything," what's the point of including the phrase in the oath?

In fact, it's exactly the point of that phrase in the standard witness oath -- the witness must "go out of his way" to make sure that his testimony paints the entire picture, not just that part of the picture some questioner was smart enough, or informed enough, to ask about.

That Burris should take this catch-me-if-you-can approach to oaths is not surprising -- he comes, after all, from the cesspool that is Democratic politics in Illinois.

And anyone who doubts that it's a cesspool (could there possibly be anyone who doubts it?), and that Burris himself acknowledges and behaves as if it's a cesspool, one need look no further than a few paragraphs further down in the story, where we find this gem:

"Burris now says those offers of help were a ruse to 'placate' Blagojevich and keep his appointment chances alive and that there was never any intent to donate money."

So Burris' evolving explanation -- which probably comes closest to the truth of anything he's said on the matter -- now acknowledges that in his efforts to get Blagojevich to appoint him to the Senate seat, he calmly and blithely lied to the governor's brother.

Well, that defense -- "No, really, I didn't lie to you, I lied to them" -- at least has the virtue of chutzpah.

If telling the "whole truth" doesn't bring with it a responsibility to "go out of his way on anything," what's the point of including the phrase in the oath?

In fact, it's exactly the point of that phrase in the standard witness oath -- the witness must "go out of his way" to make sure that his testimony paints the entire picture, not just that part of the picture some questioner was smart enough, or informed enough, to ask about.

That Burris should take this catch-me-if-you-can approach to oaths is not surprising -- he comes, after all, from the cesspool that is Democratic politics in Illinois.

And anyone who doubts that it's a cesspool (could there possibly be anyone who doubts it?), and that Burris himself acknowledges and behaves as if it's a cesspool, one need look no further than a few paragraphs further down in the story, where we find this gem:

"Burris now says those offers of help were a ruse to 'placate' Blagojevich and keep his appointment chances alive and that there was never any intent to donate money."

So Burris' evolving explanation -- which probably comes closest to the truth of anything he's said on the matter -- now acknowledges that in his efforts to get Blagojevich to appoint him to the Senate seat, he calmly and blithely lied to the governor's brother.

Well, that defense -- "No, really, I didn't lie to you, I lied to them" -- at least has the virtue of chutzpah.