It seems odd that a strict constructionist such as yourself would utilize a term like empathy without reference to its actual meaning. Could a man of your education and prominance really be confusing empathy and sympathy? I doubt it. Empathy, strictly speaking, does not imply undue bias, rather it means the ability to see from another's perspective, to understand (or try to) how others think, feel and perceive. In other words, its an intellectual virtue that would make any decision maker more knowledgeable. I guess it coulod be bad for sdomeone who must decide very quickly, and who never has a chance to reflect on the decisions they make, but otherwise, opposing empathy is simply anti-intellectual.

assuming the accuracy of both your factual claims and the Administration's, what you have here is evidence of a different interpretation, not of a lie. I know you'll laugh this off as hair splitting at best, but I bring it up anyway because a lot of younger Americans will take your claims literally and apply flawed reasoning to non-political endeavors, like their school work. There's nothing wrong with hyperbole when preaching to a like-minded chior, but so much of this goes on these days that many folks joining the chior take these unsubstantiated conclusions as clear thinking, rather than the short cuts they are intended to represent.