I really love the use of the "Pinocchio" ratings given by this author. On his scale of four, the leftist, activists ,criminal parents of Michael Brown and the late Trayvon certainly have garnered the coveted four "Pinocchios" rating. As we slide toward almost certain civil war (wait until the medical record on Darren is released and especially when he is not indicted for anything), we must all remember that truth has nothing to do with any of it. It is all going to come down to who can eliminate the other side. Besides, look what happened in Haiti. What a beautiful outcome to trying to right some wrongs there.
In war, truth is the first casualty. Aeschylus Greek tragic dramatist (525 BC - 456 BC)
B Smith, Chicago IL USA
The most fundamental of the Chinese fifth century general Sun Tzu's principles for the conduct of war is that "All warfare is based on deception".
Ed Richardson, Deer Lake, Canada
In 1918 US Senator Hiram Warren Johnson is purported to have said: The first casualty when war comes is truth. However, this was not recorded. In 1928 Arthur Ponsonby's wrote: The 'When war is declared, truth is the first casualty'. (Falsehood in Wartime) Samuel Johnson seems to have had the first word: 'Among the calamities of war may be jointly numbered the diminution of the love of truth, by the falsehoods which interest dictates and credulity encourages.' (from The Idler, 1758)
Peter Brooke, Mewmachar Scotland
Many websites and books claim that Greek writer Aeschylus (456-524 B.C.) penned a version of the aphorism centuries earlier, usually cited as In war, the first casualty is truth. But as Popik and other quote mavens have pointed out, no such quote exists in any of the written works of Aeschylus. Of course, when it comes to attributions of famous quotations, a common casualty is fact-checking, especially now that alleged quotes are often posted and reposted without any on the Internet.
So, who cares what the truth is? Say what you need to in order to stir people up to war. That, by the way, is MY quote.