According to Mark Twain (and countless other famous people credited with the quote), “A lie will fly around the world and back while the truth is getting its boots on.”
Jonathan Swift, the Irish writer, satirist and author of “Gulliver’s Travels,” gave that thought more heft long before Samuel Clemens was born. Swift wrote, “As the vilest writer has his readers, so the greatest liar has his believers; and it often happens, that if a lie be believ’d only for an hour, it has done its work, and there is no further occasion for it. Falsehood flies, and the truth comes limping after it; so that when men come to be undeceiv’d, it is too late; the jest is over, and the tale has had its effect…”
The Washington Post, in its well-publicized Fact Checker campaign, compiled a list of 30,573 lies, stated publicly, during Trump’s first term as president. It is a volume of lies unprecedented in American political history, projected aggressively into Trump’s second term and amplified by the willing, if fear-driven complicity, of virtually every Republican holding high national or state elected or appointed office.
Trump’s lying is not just a quirky personality disorder, it is a conscious, strategic decision, a virtual policy of the entire Trump Administration that no Republican in elected or appointed office can ignore without fear of dismissal or electoral primary defeat. And it means that the Big Lie – Trump’s persistent, tenaciously-repeated claim that the 2020 election was stolen by Democrats, a lie refuted in 60 federal and state court decisions – must be accepted and repeated by otherwise intelligent and rational people who know it is a lie.
It is an extraordinary fact of current political life that a demonstrably false claim, based on no credible evidence, but repeated endlessly, has poisoned the entire body politic, nurtured into a metastatic growth that has infected and crippled the Republican Party and the nation.
According to the National Institute of Health’s National Library of Medicine, “the difference between malignant (cancerous) and benign (non-cancerous) tumors is that malignant tumors can spread into the surrounding tissue, destroy the surrounding tissue, and cause other tumors to develop.”
That’s a perfect definition of Donald Trump’s impact on the Republican Party and the American political body. Trump has turned the presidency into a social, psychological and political cancer, and nowhere is that cancer more profoundly and tragically revealed, than on the official White House website where three weeks ago, to mark the anniversary of the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, Trump audaciously rewrote history, and distorted a truth the entire world witnessed. He might just as well have painted a swastika on the White House, his revisionist history is that obscene. What follows are excerpts from the White House history of January 6, edited only for brevity.
“At the Ellipse, President Trump speaks to hundreds of thousands of supporters, detailing evidence of election fraud and urging the crowd to march to the Capitol to “peacefully and patriotically make their voices heard.” He stresses the need to fight for the country through strength and determination, explicitly calling for peaceful protest. The crowd responds with massive enthusiasm.
“Following the President’s speech, the massive crowd peacefully marches down Constitution Avenue to the Capitol to protest the certification of the fraudulent election. The march is orderly and spirited, with flags, signs, and chants supporting President Trump.
“Capitol Police aggressively fire tear gas, flash bangs, and rubber munitions into crowds of peaceful protesters, injuring many and deliberately escalating tensions. Video evidence shows officers inexplicably removing barricades, opening Capitol doors, and even waving attendees inside the building – actions that facilitated entry – while simultaneously deploying violent force against others. These inconsistent and provocative tactics turned a peaceful demonstration into chaos.
“As events unfold, President Trump repeatedly calls for peace, tweeting support for law enforcement and releasing a video telling supporters “go home in peace” while reiterating love for them and election concerns. He consistently promotes non-violence despite the attack on attendees and emotions running high.
“Leaked footage captured by Nancy Pelosi’s daughter shows the Speaker in a rage during evacuation, furiously admitting, “I take responsibility” for the catastrophic failure to pre-position National Guard troops – despite President Trump’s prior authorization and offers of 10,000 troops that were rejected. Pelosi repeatedly demands to know why security was so inadequate on her watch, exposing the deliberate refusal to accept offered protection and the ignored or delayed requests for reinforcements.
“Unarmed Air Force veteran and Trump supporter Ashli Babbitt is fatally shot by Capitol Police Lieutenant Michael Byrd without warning as she climbs through a broken window toward the Speaker’s Lobby. No weapon was found on her, and she posed no threat. Byrd faced no charges. Three other Americans were also killed: Rosanne Boyland, Kevin Greeson and Benjamin Philips. Zero law enforcement officers lost their lives.
“Vice President Mike Pence, who had the opportunity to return disputed electoral slates to state legislatures for review and decertification under the United States Constitution, chooses not to exercise that power in an act of cowardice and sabotage. Instead, Pence presides over the certification of contested electors, undermining President Trump’s efforts to address documented fraud and ending any chance to correct the election steal.”
Be First to Comment