Right now, a lot of the Conservative blogosphere is getting worked up over what they see as some discrepancy in a statement by Al Gore. As near as I can figure out, Gore said something about spending a week in France when he was fifteen and his detractors say (a) this couldn't have happened and (b) this proves the guy is a pathological liar or something of the sort. I've received several e-mails from people who are dead certain that there's no such thing as Global Warming and their "proof" doesn't extend far beyond their view that Gore can't be trusted so if he says it's so, it isn't. I suppose if Gore were to say it's currently 2006, they'd take that as evidence that it was some other year.
This is a political tactic that annoys the hell out of me. A lot of politicians lie and when they lie, they oughta be called on it. But all of them — without exception — say things that seem to contradict the record and which can be spun as lies if you try hard enough. It cheapens the whole concept of The Truth to label every seeming discrepancy as a bald-faced lie. Bill Clinton saying "I did not have sex with that woman" was a lie. Bill Clinton saying he read about black churches being burned in Arkansas when he was a kid (when there's no record any were) is not a lie, any more than you're lying when you misremember someone's birthday.
Here's a video clip of George W. Bush caught in what sure looks like a lie about something pretty important. In fact, it's so important that I'm inclined to believe it's not a lie…just real sloppy storytelling. However, if the Democrats had someone like Karl Rove running plays for them, you can bet this would get sold hard as rock-solid proof that not only is Bush a liar but that he has some severe emotional disturbance that makes him incapable of telling the truth.