Lies, And The Damned Liars Who Tell Them

John Avlon, writing in The Bulwark, highlights a defining feature of Trumpism: to lie, lie, and lie some more when faced with facts:

"One of the tired old truisms of post-Watergate Washington is “'t’s not the crime, it’s the coverup.' In fact, usually it’s both—but this coverup reflects the cult-like insistence on unreality as a sign of tribal loyalty that flows down from President Donald Trump. Tone always comes from the top.

Lies are the instinctive official defense from this administration. As Andrew Egger noted this week, 'It’s all there in the three rules Trump learned from his mentor, Roy Cohn: always attack, always deny everything, always declare victory.' At this point, those tactics have just become 'a habit of mind'—they’re second nature for Team Trump.

So, when caught red-handed sharing classified information on a public messaging app, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth did what Trump would have done: lie loudly." (our emphasis)

For over nearly a decade of watching the Malignant Fascist in the political arena, his followers and imitators have learned that there's no real consequences for lying. The Washington Post catalogued over 30,000 lies and misrepresentations spewed from the pie hole of the MF in his first term, and the firehose hasn't stopped and has been emulated by his appointees and minions. Avlon continues:

"This is what happens when lies become litmus tests for party loyalty—beginning with backing Trump’s 2020 election denialism. And the louder the lie, the more it is seen as a signal that someone is truly a team player, dedicated to defending President Trump, as opposed to a stalwart defender of the truth or of the Constitution they swore an oath to uphold.

This reflexive dissembling and dishonesty, the hallmark of cowardice and careerism among Trump’s supporters, undermines our ability to reason together over a common set of facts and makes a mockery of our democracy."  (our emphasis)

Sadly for this nation, it's in their DNA now and can't be reasoned, negotiated or cajoled away The lies have been burned into them for decades of concerted efforts by the right-wing media ecosystem, now validated by their cult leader / golden calf. With the MF's all-out assault on reality and anything that doesn't conform to his warped prism of thought, we're in for a lot more.

(photo: When his lips are moving, he's lying. Jabin Botsford / Washington Post / Getty)