Mendacity
\Men*dac"i*ty\, n.; pl. Mendacities. [L. mendacitas.] 1. The quality or state of being mendacious; a habit of lying. --Macaulay.
2. A falsehood; a lie. --Sir T. Browne.
Syn: Lying; deceit; untruth; falsehood.
Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.

Lying has always been hard for me.

Coming from someone who is a self-professed storyteller, that very statement may, in and of itself, sound like a lie. But I've always had an easier time finding really sophisticated ways of telling the truth without getting in trouble. I suppose it comes from the assumption that I'm probably not a very convincing liar.

Of course, this is not to say that I never lie. That statement would ABSOLUTELY be a lie. But I try to avoid situations where I might be tempted.

Which is why the news I read on ArtBomb's blog absolutely floored me tonight. On more than one occasion, you've heard me herald the work and writing of Micah Wright, author of one of my favorite comics, Stormwatch: Team Achilles. Wright said he was a former Army Ranger who took part in the invasion of Panama back in the '80's, which made his stinging critiques of Bush & Co. all the more powerful.

Micah Wright is a big fat honkin' liar.

He never even did active duty service in the military. The closest he came was ROTC. And even though he tried to clean it up on his forum by saying he just couldn't live with the lies anymore, the truth of the matter is that the Washington Post was about to come out with an article based on a bunch of Freedom of Information Act requests that completely debunk him.

Would that there was a single word that could encompass both "angry" and "disappointed" to accurately portray my feelings right now.

"Angry" because I don't like being lied to, particularly in an instance where it was wholly unnecessary. Micah is a great writer, and his work in Stormwatch speaks for itself. He didn't need the padded resume. "Angry" because I have plenty of family who were active duty in the military, one of whom is a Gulf War veteran, and he's basically taken a big steaming dump on their commitments and sacrifice. "Angry" because Micah wrote reams on how much damage Jayson Blair did to his contemporaries and how awful George W. Bush is for inflating his military service. Jesus, at least Bush went through basic training!

"Disappointed" because so much of what he had to say was spot on, but will now be completely invalidated because everything he ever says will now be prefaced by the byline "Micah Wright, Liar". "Disappointed" because Stormwatch really was one of my favorite comics and, quite honestly, I'm simply not going to buy it or recommend it to anyone anymore because I refuse to support someone who would abuse his supporters and fans in such a way.

You'll notice that I've removed the links to all of Micah's books on Macroscope. I've promoted him so much, I figure it's only fair to let you all know the deal.