If Bush Is Lying, He\'s Not the First

By David Wise

The sign on the White House these days might well read "Welcome to Credibility Gap."

Sooner or later, every modern administration has fallen into this unwelcome gulch, a disaster that happens when the gap between the government's words and the known facts becomes discernible to the voters. The phrase "credibility gap" came into use during the Democratic administration of Lyndon B. Johnson, but deception as an instrument of national policy began long before that. Misleading official statements, "spin" and, at times, outright lies are an all-too-familiar part of the White House landscape. Government lying has become as American as apple pie.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A57402-2003Jun13.html