When I think of the Clinton presidency, the word that comes to mind is "deception". For example, Clinton didn't have an affair with an intern, he had "sexual relations" which were determined by a debate upon the definition of the word "is". Because the act of the deed was done TO him, and not BY him, Judge Susan Webber Wright ruled that Clinton in fact, did not have an affair.

So the question is, what do we believe?

While not meaning to dig up past deeds of our former President, this whole issue of the use of words made me wonder about something that's going on in the world today. Namely, the words used by the Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. As we know, Ahmadinejad has been quoted as saying he wants to wipe Israel off the map.

After making these comments, many of the Iranian President's sympathizers in American academics have claimed the Iranian leader was mistranslated or misunderstood.

Left-wing University of Michigan professor Juan Cole told the New York Times:

"Ahmadinejad did not say he was going to wipe Israel off the map, because no such idiom exists in Persian. He did say he hoped its regime, i.e., a Jewish-Zionist state occupying Jerusalem, would collapse… Since Iran has not attacked another country aggressively for over a century, I smell the whiff of war propaganda."

Oh, THAT'S all! Of course, it all depends on what the meaning of "wipe off the map" means.

Jonathan Steele of the British Guardian newspaper also told the Times:

"The Iranian president was quoting an ancient statement by Iran's first Islamist leader, the late Ayatollah Khomeini, that 'this regime occupying Jerusalem must vanish from the page of time,' just as the Shah's regime in Iran had vanished. He was not making a military threat. He was calling for an end to the occupation of Jerusalem at some point in the future. The 'page of time'phrase suggests he did not expect it to happen soon."

But thankfully, we don't need these idiots to tell us what we already know. Just leave it to Ahmadinejad to simplify it for us. Speaking at an Arab Conference of Iraqi Neighbors meeting on Saturday:

"All the conditions for the removal of the Zionist regime are at hand. "

For the first time, he employed the Arabic word ezaleh, which is used to describe the irreversible removal of body hairs. He continued:

“Nations in the region will be more furious every day. It won’t take long before the wrath of the people turns into a terrible explosion that will wipe the Zionist entity off the map."

The basic problem in the Islamic world is the existence of the Zionist regime, and the Islamic world and the region must mobilize to remove this problem. It is a usurper that our enemies made and imposed on the Muslim world, a regime that prevented the progress of the region’s nations, a regime that all Muslims must join hands in isolating worldwide.”

He ended with a call on all nations to cease their support of Israel:

“All nations should realize that their support for the illegitimate, usurper, Zionist regime is a mistake. The waves of fury of Muslim nations will not be confined within the boundaries of the region, and the people who close their ears to the cries of the Palestinians and blindly support this regime will be responsible for the consequences. I tell them to dissociate themselves or face the terrible consequences.”

Such a nice fella, that Mahmoud.

So tell me, what does Juan Cole have to say about his friend now?

Apparently, nothing.

Like all left-wing lunatics, Cole has not come forward with an apology or any other mea culpa. As has been the case with most of the left, they make outrageous claims, brutalize anyone who dares disagree with them and then after being proven wrong, act as if it never happened.

Like the Clinton example above, Cole will probably say something along the lines of "Ahmadinejad is just a kidder. You can't take him seriously." Cole would have said Hitler only wanted peace in Europe too, if given the chance.

The disturbing thing is that words do matter. Unfortunately, lies are more damaging than the truth. Mixing up lies to sound like truth are even worse. Clinton may have gotten off, but the damage it did to his Presidency and to the office was huge.

It's shameful that people like Juan Cole are allowed to use their words with such reckless abandon and then are allowed to remain unscathed for their treachery. When they ask me what I think is wrong with American academics, I point to this a the biggest problem. We, as American taxpayers, should not be forced to support such disgusting behavior.

But I guess if "right and wrong" are determined by the meaning of the word "is", it's already too late.