The Growing Tinge of the Sinister

I believe everybody has told a lie at some point (I admit that’s a generalization) and some of us have told more than our share.  Some of our lies have been big whoppers and some have been what we like to call little white lies or fibs.  But let’s be clear and honest—there are few of us, if any, who have not lied on occasion. Nearly everybody will tell you that lying is wrong, but nearly everybody has lied. Deception is rampant among us in every area of life.  A polygraph expert says, “Lying has long been a part of everyday life.  We couldn’t get through a day without being deceptive.”  Friedrich Nietzche wrote that “the lie” is a condition of life.

If the above is true, then we can just naturally expect all presidents to lie.  And they do and they have!  Richard Nixon lied about being a crook.  Ronald Reagan lied about not being aware of the Iran-Contra deal (evidence indicates that he was).  Bill Clinton lied about his relationship with a White House intern.  Lying in politics transcends political affiliation.  Republicans and Democrats lie (both those who are in political leadership positions and those who are not)! Seventy percent of Trump’s statements (checked by PolitiFact) during his 2016 campaign were false (lies) and only 4% were completely true.  Twenty-six percent of Trump’s “Crooked” Hillary’s statements during the same campaign were deemed false.  

Tony Swartz was the ghostwriter for Trump’s  memoir, The Art of the Deal.  But Donald Trump, as a presidential candidate, apparently convinced himself that he had written the book.  Schwartz said, “If he could lie about that on Day One (of his campaign)—when it was so easily refuted—he is likely to lie about anything.”  And Trump does lie about anything and almost everything!  I know there are those who just can’t believe this is so—but it is so and it is a fact!

Lying has consequences—serious consequences.  When Trump praised Rep. Greg Gianforte for body slamming a reporter and continues to slam the media as “the enemy of the people” (this is a lie) he elicited cheers and applause from the crowd.  The U.S. editor of The Guardian’s response says it all:  “To celebrate an attack on a journalist who was simply doing his job is an attack on the First Amendment by someone who has taken an oath to defend it.….In the aftermath of the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, it runs the risk of inviting other assaults on journalists both here and across the world where they often face far greater threats.”  Lying has far-reaching consequences—and we all know it!  The president’s lying can no longer be classed as simply “mischievious” or “un-politically correct.”  It is a bullying spirit.

"A lie can travel half way around the world while
the truth is putting on its shoes" (Mark Twain)