Rhetorical obfuscation can ruin people's lives. Consider the president's State of the Union remarks about Medicare. First, he said he believed seniors should have a choice when it comes to their medical care. Then he said that under his plan, seniors could get reimbursement for prescription medicines.

Sounds good, doesn't it? Only it isn't. Did the president lie? No.

Except...yes. He did the worst kind of lying--the kind that omits, twists, and plays with the meanings of words.

It is true that he has a plan whereby seniors will get reimbursed by Medicare for prescription drugs. It is true they have a choice. However, this is the choice: Under Bush's plan, an older American may choose to keep the current Medicare program and thereby choose her physicians. Or...she may choose to get reimbursement for her medicines by joining an HMO, and thereby lose her right to select her own doctors.

This Scylla and Charybdis choice was made public recently, but that doesn't mean that Americans heard about it. And it is being made public again today (by the other side), but that is also no guarantee that Americans will hear about it. They may not have heard about it because, sadly, thousands of citizens simply do not bother to stay informed. Then, when they tune in to the razzle-dazzle known as the State of the Union address, they hear "compassionate conservatism" and breathe a sigh of relief that the voted for the president.

By the way, he performed the same rhetorical card tricks with his environmental program, just in case you missed it. It is time to pay attention.