MICROPHONES accidentally left on after G20 meeting pick up a revealing private conversation between US and French presidents about the Israeli prime minister. French President Nicolas Sarkozy reportedly told US President Barack Obama that he could not "stand" Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and that he thinks the Israeli premier "is a liar."
According to a report on the French website "Arret sur Images," after facing reporters for a G20 press conference last Thursday, the two presidents retired to a private room, to further discuss the matters of the day.
The cable television sports network ESPN is pulling Hank Williams Jr's classic intro song from its broadcast of Monday night's National Football League game in the US after the country singer famous for the line "Are you ready for some football?'' used an analogy to Adolf Hitler in discussing President Barack Obama.
The conversation apparently began with Obama criticizing Nicolas Sarkozy for not having warned him that France would be voting in favor of the Palestinian membership bid in UNESCO despite Washington's strong objection to the move.
The conversation then drifted to Netanyahu, at which time Sarkozy declared: "I cannot stand him. He is a liar." According to the report, Obama replied: "You're fed up with him, but I have to deal with him every day!"
The remark was naturally meant to be said in confidence, but the two leaders' microphones were accidently left on, making the would-be private comment embarrassingly public.
The communication faux pas went unnoticed for several minutes, during which the conversation between the two heads of state - which quickly reverted to other matters – was all but open to members the press, who were still in possession of headsets provided by the Elysée for the sake of simultaneous translation during the G20 press conference.
"By the time the (media) services at the Elysée realise it, it was on for at least three minutes," one journalist told the website. Still, he said that reporters "did not have a chance to take advantage of this fluke."
The surprising lack of coverage may be explained by a report alleging that reporters present at the event were requested to sign an agreement to keep mum on the subject of the embarrassing comments.
A member of the media confirmed Monday that "there were discussions between journalists and they agreed not to publish the comments due to the sensitivity of the issue."
He added that while it was annoying to have to refrain from publishing the information, the journalists are subject to precise rules of conduct.
That is not to say that if there anyone who was reading this and has never told a lie, even a little white lie then those same persons are liars themselves. The whole point of this is that no matter what we may say there is no one who has never told a lie.
However, what does matter is the extent, and in what context, those lies are told and the ramifications for others, if any, our lies may have. As there is no one who has ever told a lie, even a little white lie, then everyone is a sinner of one type of another. Accordingly, that is the reason why the Lord Jesus Christ came into the world to save humankind from its sins.
As that is the case, then the best thing for anyone who has not already done to do so is to repent of your sin before it is too late. You may do so now before it is too late by reciting the believers prayer of repentance reformatted at the bottom of this page.
