Complete and Utter Zebu

You’d think the one thing a politician would be good at is lying. Yet it isn’t always so. Perhaps none is so guilty of reinventing the past as US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Our book has several examples of Utter Zebu spouted by her, not just the famous incident of her “misspeaking” about landing under sniper fire in Bosnia.

Indeed, just last month she told another whopper when addressing the Northern Ireland Assembly. You can see the Zebooed clip here. Nicholas Sarkozy, the French President, also features in the book over his attempts to make himself look taller. During the D-Day anniversary ceremonies he gave a speech on a hidden box, he stood on tiptoe when being photographed with the Obamas in Strasbourg and, in September, when visiting a car plant, he arranged to be surrounded by specially chosen diminutive factory workers.

His latest, though, is in another class of deception entirely. At the top of his facebook page is the photograph above (click to enlarge), showing him chipping away at the Berlin Wall. He talks of hearing the news on November 9th that the Wall might come down. “We decide to leave Paris…to participate in the event…An enthusiastic crowd had already gathered at the announcement of the probable opening of the wall.” Getting hold of pickaxes, “we confront this wall…Around us, families gathered to break down the concrete.”

All very impressive and no doubt the assembled politicians from around the world were duly impressed at the blows he struck for freedom when they gathered in Berlin to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Wall. The only slight fly in the ointment is that Sarkozy wasn’t actually there. Some French newspapers are saying he didn’t get there until the 16th. The photographer who took the photo in question says it was snapped on the 10th. Why boast about something that is so easily disproved? Who knows? Being found out has certainly never stopped Hillary. In fact, the two Zebu Farmers have spent quite a bit of time together recently and met up again at the ceremony celebrating Berlin’s reunification (below). Perhaps they’ve been swapping tips?