For Finance Minister Kittiratt Na-Ranong the issue isn't that he lied, or admitted that he lied. The issue is his belief that he has the right to lie. That he believes it was good for the country that he told a lie.
To write a diatribe against the evils of lying is too easy. In a Bangkok Post article yesterday, former finance ministers from across the political spectrum expressed their disapproval for lying. No kidding. What else would they have said?
One foreign voice, Jean-Guy Carrier, secretary-general of the Paris-based International Chamber of Commerce, gave a diplomatic answer, as of course any high-profile foreign observer would.
Voices within the Pheu Thai Party predictably played down the incident.
So all the responses were as expected.
People lie. Politicians are people, so they too lie _ and not just Thai politicians either. Most everyone lies, as long as it serves a purpose. Normally the liar would first lie to himself by saying that the lie is for the greater good. We must believe in the virtue of our lies, otherwise it just isn't as convincing.
But in the annals of lying politicians, Mr Kittiratt might just be the first in history to basically say: I knew I was lying from the beginning, and you know what, I have the right to lie _ in fact, it's for your own good that I told the lie.
Here are the actual quotes: ''The finance minister can lie about some things, such as export targets. But these are white lies.''
''If I said from the start that we couldn't grow, what would be the impact on confidence?''
This, ladies and gentlemen, takes balls of steel. For all the wrong reasons, but still, balls of steel _ and I can't help but admire the cojones on the finance minister, just a little mind you, just a very tiny little.
When former prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva promised to clean up corruption and give Thailand reconciliation as a 2011 New Year's present, we knew he had good intentions, just like Mr Kittiratt did. But we also knew that reality made a liar out of him.
When Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said ''Aou yoo ka [we can handle it],'' we also knew she had good intentions, just like Mr Kittiratt. But we also knew to pack up to Pattaya and escape the northern run-off.
When she insisted that she and only she would be the prime minister of this country, we knew every important government decision would be made from abroad and that ministers and officials would fly to Cambodia, Singapore, Dubai or wherever they had to seek favours and obtain permission.
These are lies that started out as good intentions. But white lies, black lies, polka dot lies _ it doesn't matter, lies are lies.
In the hugely popular book by which politicians swear by (but not one you'll find on Amazon), ''Lies and Corruption: How to Give the Public Exactly What They Deserve for Being Dumb Enough to Elect Us'', there are three hard and fast rules about lying:
1) Never admit that you lied.
2) Pretend that you never said it.
3) Blame everyone else.
Every politician knows this book from cover to cover. They can recite it by heart. But Mr Kittiratt broke all the rules. Not only did he admit that he told a lie, he's proud of it. He considered it his duty.
Reality gave him some room to manoeuvre even. He could have said that he truly believed in the 15% export growth projection and blamed the persisting European slump and a slowing China as the realities that dictate a readjustment. That would have been fine. We, the people of Thailand, never expect our politicians to know what they are doing anyway. But what he did was unprecedented in the annals of lying politicians. He went one up on everyone by basically telling Thailand, ''So what? I did it for your own good.''
I'm a man who appreciates cojones and originality. Now the only thing that is left for the finance minister to do to prove to Thailand once and for all that he truly is a man's man is to resign from his post _ take the blame, bear responsibility and be accountable.
Well, I'm not holding my breath.
In fascism, they just shove the truth down your throat and you have to swallow under the threat of bodily harm. In a representative democracy, beautiful lies are sung to voters' ears.
When George Bush Snr said, ''Read my lips, no new taxes,'' he most likely meant it when he said it, but then reality dictated otherwise. It's the same sort of lie as ''I will always love you,'' ''I will never leave you,'' and ''I will never hurt you.'' They come from good intentions, no doubt, but more often than not they turn out to be lies when reality hits you square in the head.
When Bill Clinton said, ''I did not inhale,'' or ''I did not have sexual relations with that woman,'' these could be interpreted as outright lies. A Rhodes Scholar would never be so wasteful with the former, and as for the latter, there's ''sex'' in oral sex, otherwise it would just be called ''oral''_ and where's the fun in that? The greater good here was self-preservation and the dignity of the US presidency.
When Barack Obama said, ''Yes, we can,'' he too was seeking to build confidence. And give him the benefit of the doubt that at the time he truly meant it, notwithstanding the fact that four years later it turned out to be no, we couldn't, not really. It's good to give hope. It's alright to build confidence.
As for George Bush Jnr, he most likely honestly couldn't tell which was which and what was what.
They all had good intentions, lies are often just lofty, unrealistic promises that the public swallows ever so eagerly until reality hits everyone square in the head.
When politicians lie _ with good intentions or otherwise _ they do it for one reason, our votes. Democracy is PR and marketing. We the public normally prefer a beautiful lie over a brutal truth. It makes getting up in the morning a little easier. One big complaint against Mr Kittiratt that I hear is people say he should have just kept his mouth shut. Pretend that he did not lie. Another is that we expect our politicians to actually be better than us.
We the people have this false hope that our elected leaders will be honest and transparent, that they will be better than us. This is what makes fools out of us, always duped and made dumb by scheming politicians. The truth of the matter is, this is a representative democracy and as such we should not expect our representatives to be any better than us. After all, they are us.
In the unpublished manuscript left in the bin of publishers across the globe _ ''Representative Democracy: The Politicians are Just Like Us'' _ there are three hard and fast brutal truths:
1) If we give a 100 baht bill to a traffic cop or drop a name, expect politicians to take a 30% cut in government contracts.
2) If we cut corners to get things done, expect politicians to stuff the ballot box.
3) If we or our company fudges numbers, expect the finance minister to throw out bogus export projections.
If we believe we have the right to do any of the above and more, then Mr Kittiratt has the right to believe that he can lie. The only difference is he's honest about it. The other sad similarity is none of us would resign over lying either.
Only those who live clean and honest lives have the right to actually expect better from politicians.
Contact Voranai Vanijaka via email at voranaiv@bangkokpost.co.th.