Commentary When a politician promises to “tell the truth,” as President Biden did in his nationally televised address last Thursday, you can add that statement to familiar ones lacking the ring of sincerity. They include: “The gun isn’t loaded;” “the microphone is off;” “if you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor” and “I did not have sex with that woman, Ms. Lewinsky.” A promise to tell the truth might imply that others (himself?) have been lying in the past. Why not just be truthful? Honesty is not only the best policy, it is a practice people don’t have to brag about if they have a record of veracity. If Biden told the truth, he might have mentioned that, as Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) told Fox’s “America’s Newsroom,” “91 percent” of the $1.9 trillion relief bill he recently signed does not go toward pandemic-related recovery. The rest has more …