FLYNN
Call the Pastor. Ask him why I left! It’s perfectly innocent.SISTER ALOYSIUS
I’m not calling the Pastor.FLYNN
I’m a good priest!SISTER ALOYSIUS
You will go after another child and another child, until you are stopped.FLYNN
What nun did you speak to?SISTER ALOYSIUS
I won’t say.FLYNN
I’ve not touched a child.SISTER ALOYSIUS
You have.FLYNN
You haven’t the slightest proof of anything.SISTER ALOYSIUS
But I have my certainty.[…]
Did you give Donald Miller wine to drink?
FLYNN
No.SISTER ALOYSIUS
Mental reservation?FLYNN
No.SISTER ALOYSIUS
You lie.
— Doubt
At least Sr. Aloysius has some grounds for her suspicions, otherwise the theme of the play wouldn’t be “Doubt.” Events transpire which, interpreted a certain way, can legitimately be construed as suggesting priestly impropriety.
Palin and Wilson have no such grounds and no such benefit of the doubt. They are either inexcusably ignorant of the realities of the health care issue or they are lying.
Sr. Aloysius and Rep. Wilson are in a similar situation in that they cannot validly claim that Fr. Flynn and Obama respectively are lying. The difference, however, is that although Sr. Aloysius does not have any proof that Fr. Flynn has molested Donald Miller, there are factors that raise suspicions; Wilson likewise has no proof that the health care bill will cover illegal immigrants, but there is also obvious, demonstrable, and readily available proof to the contrary. Again, Wilson is either inexcusably ignorant of the bill and its particulars or he is lying.
True, it’s a flawed analogy. Still, when I heard “You lie,” the very first thing that came to my mind was Cherry Jones saying the line on stage. I couldn’t help myself.