Dementia. The dictionary defines it as "the usually progressive deterioration of intellectual functions such as memory that can occur while other brain functions such as those controlling movement and senses are retained."
Maybe those diehard Hillary supporters can use this as an excuse for her most-recent lie. In a very detailed fashion, she described how she landed under fire in Bosnia and had to run with her head down to the waiting cars, skipping the welcoming ceremony planned for her at the airport.
She continued to support this claim through several questionings until, oops: the video came out proving her wrong.
It was not an embellishment, not an exaggeration, not her claim that she "misspoke," but a simple, bald-faced lie. Maybe she thought that because the tearing-up act won her New Hampshire, the sleep-deprivation excuse would work this time.
Who knows? It sure didn't work this time, as her approval ratings plummeted to her lowest ever. A Wall Street Journal poll showed her approval rating at a mere 37 percent; even more damaging, she was at 24 percent among independents.
Shouldn't we be used to the Clinton lie machine by now? Hillary herself has been caught lying at least a half-dozen times and suspected in another dozen or so other incidents.
We don't even have to talk about Bill and his numerous "mis-truths." I think it is impossible for the Clintons to distinguish between a truth and a lie anymore. They simply pick the one that gives them the best chance of enhancing their position.
But, alas, this might be my last column concerning Hillary. Barack Obama has the nomination won unless the Clinton attack machine can uncover or manufacture some dirt on him. If I were you, Obama, I wouldn't put it past them.
Now, a little about the latest Obama fiasco. Last week, we were down in Virginia backcountry where, unfortunately, there are people still displaying the Confederate flag from a pole or using it as a curtain or art.
Also, a few years ago, when I was driving the country roads of southern Louisiana, I came across posters still promoting the white supremacist David Duke.
It's scary to find so many bigots and racists stuck in the past. We've got the Revs. Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, Louis Farrakhan, Duke and the hundreds of KKK members, to name only some.
Our latest hatemonger is a venom-spewing racist, none other than Barack Obama's spiritual mentor, the not-so-reverend Jeremiah Wright.
Bigots like this man are a dime a dozen, so the real focus is on how Obama allowed this type of person to stay in his life for more than 20 years.
Does it say anything about his own character? His judgment? Of course it does. Also, his continually changing explanations make you wonder just how much they think alike.
African-American minister Harry Jackson said that Obama should certainly be judged because of the acts of his pastor.
"Pastor Wright's world view and his understanding of race, culture and religion of the Bible will in some measure affect how Barack views the world," Jackson said.
Did Barack know what was going on? Of course he did. Everyone else seemed to. Another pretty famous Chicagoan, Oprah Winfrey, attended Wright's church in 1984.
Last year, it was reported by Newsweek that she stopped attending years ago and said that she did so "to distance herself from Wright's inflammatory rhetoric."
Why Obama's changing story? In 2004, he said his book was inspired by one of Wright's sermons. He again praised the man in 2007. Then, when the controversy first came to the surface, he told reporters that he didn't think there was "anything particularly controversial" about the man.
Next, he said he was never present at any of the fiery sermons. Soon after, he said he was uncomfortable a few times but always told the pastor he was uncomfortable about some of the things he said.
In his latest spin, he said he would have quit the church if Rev. Wright hadn't retired. Which story are we to believe?
And it wasn't just Wright. The entire congregation was standing, clapping and shouting approval.
Another black pastor, who leads a church in Everest, Wash., said that this church doesn't reflect the typical minority congregation. He said, "The way the congregation responds lets us know that the philosophy is not just the pastor's, but the church's."
He added, "If Obama didn't know the pastor's philosophy after being a member of the church for over 20 years "¦ it speaks to the lack of judgment he has."
Better be careful, Barack. You're starting to catch the Clinton disease.
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Tom Sears is a professor of accounting at Hartwick College in Oneonta and was a delegate candidate for former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee in the New York primary. He can be reached at SearsT@hartwick.edu. His column appears every other week.
