Lies, Lies, Lies, Lies, Yeah

I've been trying to resist the opportunity to comment on the recent James Frey scandal if for no other reason than (1) I haven't yet read his book A Million Little Pieces, and (2) I have no intention of reading it.

However, one can read only so many variations on the old “why make a big deal out of James Frey's lies when Bush lied worse?” line that has been going around the Internet before one feels compelled to say something. After all, I'm no Bush fan but I don't quite see what his lies have to do with Frey's. Granted, Frey's lies are by no means as terrible as the ones that provoked the current Iraqi War, but that doesn't mean that they're insignificant.

Any thought I might have had to the contrary was promptly banished by this op-ed piece I read by author Stephen King, who makes his case against Frey more eloquently than I can ever dream of doing.