It's not easy to pin down when the Republican / Forced Birth / Christofascist party adopted lying as a political tool. Sen. Joseph McCarthy certainly did in his commie witch hunt of the early 1950s, followed by Richard "I'm Not A Crook" Nixon and his operatives, and Ronald Reagan and his racist and culture war dog whistles to the Christofascist right. The most recent product and exemplar of their lying culture is the most notorious one of all: the Malignant Loser. His running mate Mike "Fly Guy" Pence immersed himself in that culture for decades, and Amanda Marcotte at Salon.com has a detailed review this morning of how that history has come back to haunt him. From her opening paragraphs:
"When Trump sold the Big Lie about President Joe Biden stealing the 2020 election to his voters, he was building on decades of Republican devotion to disinformation-fueled propaganda. Starting at least in the 80s, if not earlier, a culture of lying took root in the Republican Party. There were corporate-friendly lies about everything from cigarettes to climate change. The Christian right pushed lies about evolutionary biology and sexual health. Right-wing media normalized conspiracy theories, like Donald Trump's birther campaign harassing Barack Obama for his long-form birth certificate. Pence was an eager member of the liar corps of the GOP from the get-go.
When so few Republican politicians have to reap any of what they sowed, it's nice to see at least one of them brought lower by the immoral culture he cultivated.
Even by the GOP's low standards, Pence spent his career as an especially dishonest operator. He even did his time as a Rush Limbaugh-knockoff in the 90s, hosting an AM talk radio show in Indiana, where he would frequently rail on about how adulterers had no right to be in political or military leadership. Of course, he would later be the vice president for the most unapologetic adulterer in America's political history." (our emphasis)
Her article goes on to cite specifics of Pence's Republican-style devotion to lying to achieve political ends. Now that he's a candidate running against the most shameless and prolific liar in American political history, he's forced to occasionally tell the truth, or better, a watered-down version of it, to differentiate himself from his former boss. That doesn't go down well with the Malignant Loser's cult, who form the Republican base and decide who gets the nomination. As Marcotte concludes:
"It would be one thing if Pence had renounced his lying ways and was reckoning with how his own disinformation laid the groundwork for the Big Lie. But either he's too stupid or cynical — likely, a bit of both — to think about how his own contributions to the GOP culture of lying made Trump possible. Now Pence has to squirm, as Republican voters voice feelings of betrayal that Pence finally found a line he wouldn't cross. It's a pleasure knowing that Pence will finish his political career hated by everyone across the political spectrum. It's far less punishment than he deserves, of course. But when so few Republican politicians have to reap any of what they sowed, it's nice to see at least one of them brought lower by the immoral culture he cultivated." (our emphasis)
Indeed.
(photo: Bullshit attracts flies. NBC News)
