> He's the director of the FBI, he's almost certainly lying.

If you mean that because he's FBI Director therefore he's lying, I strongly disagree. Certainly, just like everyone else, FBI Directors don't always tell the truth; the world is much more complicated than that. He is a human being, not a saint or angel, who has dedicated his life to public service and has an extremely high pressure, difficult job. I don't always like what he says but he deserves a little respect.

So we should respect accomplished liars? This seems totalitarian to say the least.

Lying to the public to accomplish a goal is not admirable in my view; it is contemptible.

It seems clear to me that he lied to Congress but parsed his testimony in a way to provide deniability / accountability. You may choose to admire this but the rest of us don't have to share your view.

I'll side with Socrates and condemn the Sophists.

My dad taught me "respect is earned, not given". I'm not exactly sure why this concept has fallen out of favor in society, but the idea we should respect someone purely because they made it to a high-ranking position/title is ludicrous. You should determine respect for people because of their behavior and actions, regardless of their wealth, influence, or job title. In fact, this is a hallmark of the way technical roles in much of the industry works that makes it so pleasant to me. I have garnered respect in my career because I get shit done, not because I've ever had a fancy title.

I have an inkling that they believe they are moral, normal and doing the right thing by saving us from ourselves. "The ends justify the means" is a pretty common though in american law enforcement.

If they're busy saving us from ourselves, who will save them from themselves?

That's a great but age old question. Who watches the watchers?

What we all knew, and what's leaked in the recent years. The answer is nobody really.

J Edgar Hoover would agree, but the rest of the world would not.

Was he under oath at the time? Not that it matters, since no one (certainly not a high level government official) gets charged with lying under oath. To Congress. I guess even Congress doesn't value themselves that much to be worth not lying to.

The context of the comment is about the FBI said, not what we are assuming they mean.