“We begin, I think,” wrote W. R. Matthews, “when we set out to lie and deceive, by having an increased sense of power. When I am lying, if I am at all good at the art, I am conscious of occupying a superior position. I know the truth, but to get my own way I impose delusions on others, thus triumphing over them double—by having a monopoly on truth on the matter in question and by altering the world in accordance with my will….”
Many years ago, right after my basic training with the Air Force, I told a real whopper to a couple of my former high school friends. The lie I told, which they probably have long since forgotten, still lingers in my mind and irks my soul. It now makes me feel so small, but then it made me feel so big. It was a stupid, idiotic lie, but at the time, it seemed to lift me up in their eyes. Pinocchio lives in us all whether our nose shows it or not. It is not simply a Trump malady. It is not a partisan thing. Let’s not lie about that!
Presidents lie, even those we admire most. Some are really good at it. Franklin D. Roosevelt was good at it. Some, like Richard Nixon, have been pathological liars. We have journeyed far from George Washington’s “I cannot tell a lie,” (which probably wasn’t true) to “Honest Abe” Lincoln, who probably wasn’t totally honest all the time. Jimmy Carter promised never to lie to us and as far as I know he didn’t—but many saw him as ineffective and he was removed from office after one term. Joe Wilson shouted out during Obama’s State of the Union Address, “You lie!” Lyndon Johnson’s lies resulted in 60,000 soldiers dying in the jungles of Southeast Asia. Ronald Reagan lied about trading arms for hostages. George W. Bush lied about weapons of mass destruction and we’ve been at war ever since. The story goes on and on—the story of lies. Yes, Presidents lie, as do CEO’s, and ordinary people like you and like me. We all have a Pinocchio within.
According to the Washington Post, Donald Trump, in his first 787 days in office, made 9,179 false or misleading claims (i.e. lies). I think the total now is over 10,000! He averaged 6 false or misleading statements a day in his first year in office and in his second year he was emboldened to tell an average of 16 a day, and this year, so far, he is averaging 22 a day! He is, as someone has written, a “Bottomless Pinocchio.” Why does a rich man, and the most powerful man in this whole wide world have to lie? I suppose it is because he wants to alter the world according to his will, and he seems to be accomplishing that very thing with his lies.
No comments:
Post a Comment