It starts in childhood with our mothers.  “Did you eat that cookie before dinner?”  It continues in the teen years, when our father asks, “Where were you last night?”  And it doesn’t stop there.  It is the universal experience shared by all humanity of lying to our family and friends, not to mention the rest of humanity.  As we grow in influence and responsibility, the lies can become even more damaging.  Think of tobacco and car company executives, insider traders, and politicians who tell us, “If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor.”  The consequences of lying range from the mild interpersonal wound to the death of groups of consumers.  But lying is the one thing all of humanity has engaged in.  Except apparently Hillary Clinton.  In her recent interview with CBS’s Scott Pelley, when asked, “Have you ever lied?”  Clinton replied twice with these exact words. “I don’t believe I ever have.”

How does she justify this in her own mind?  It’s very simple.  It all stems from the word “believe.”  In a famous scene from Seinfeld, George Costanza, the inveterate liar, remarks in solemn tones, “Jerry, just remember.  It’s not a lie if you believe it.”  Jerry proceeds to walk away as if he has just heard from the Oracle at Delphi.

Having twisted reality and historical fact into a pretzel, Hillary Clinton can then believe anything she wants.  Once she “believes” it, no lie is possible.  This is what happens when you are married to someone who says, “It depends on what the meaning of the word is is.”  Mr. Pelley gave Mrs. Clinton a wide opening to humble herself and join the rest of humanity.  Instead, she decided to assert the fiction that she is above us all.  She even lied about lying.

Jay Haug is a freelance writer living in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.