i think what you're talking about here is the infamous "Global Test" statement, so here it is:
No president, through all of American history, has ever ceded, and nor would I, the right to preempt in any way necessary to protect the United States of America.
But if and when you do it, Jim, you have to do it in a way that passes the test, that passes the global test where your countrymen, your people understand fully why you're doing what you're doing and you can prove to the world that you did it for legitimate reasons.
Now, you can disagree with this statement if you want. I admit, it's open to some interpretation, but there is no lie here. John Kerry has never been president before, so we don't know if he'd live up to his statement of not ceding "the right to preempt in any way necessary to protect the United States of America." If he didn't live up to it, then that statement would be a lie.
Now, the issue with Cheney is quite different. Once again, this is what he said: "The first time I ever met you was when you walked on the stage tonight". You can leave it in context, you can take it out of context. You can put it in the middle of the declaration of independence, but no matter how you cut it, slice it or dice it, it's still entirely untrue and, therefore, is a lie. That's the difference. It's not semantics, it's honesty.
