Lies, Lies, and More Lies

THE ORIGIN OF LYING: (1) First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English;
Other words for lying:
1. falsehood, falsity, mendacity, prevarication
2. deceptive, misleading, mendacious, fallacious; sham, counterfeit

When we were young, most of us were taught not to lie. There was no debate or excuse. The family that raised us made it clear, lying is wrong.

Today, lying is rampant, led by Donald Trump and the MAGA Republican party. It is inconceivable that those who support Trump can look at their children with sincerity and teach their kids not to lie. “Do as I say, not as I do” is hypocrisy at the lowest level of immoral character.

When NBC decided to hire Ronna McDaniel there was predictable outrage. She and Trump have lied about the 2020 election for four years. McDaniel’s appearance on Meet the Press on Sunday was a farce. She tried to walk back some of her mendaciousness and make excuses for the other misconceptions she promulgated. It was an egregious display of moral failure.

Lying has always been around in our society. There is the white lie, something you tell someone to spare their feelings. The business lie is usually is an exaggeration to sell a product or service. The politician’s lies — like George H. Bush, who promised when running for president in 1988 that he would not raise taxes, or Barack Obama who said you could keep your health insurance after the passage of the Affordable Care Act.

There is no reason to condone political lies like these. Unfortunately, our society for hundreds of years has come to accept them.

All the lies mentioned above have to one degree or another appealed to our better angels. However, none of those lies remotely approach the magnitude of the lies Trump and Republicans are using to poison the narratives of our political discourse.

What has now become so dangerous to our democracy is what has been called the BIG LIE. The lie that January 6, 2021, was a result of a presidential election that was fraudulent. The lie that Joe Biden was not the winner of the election.

It has been a sinister strategy that telling a lie, a big lie, over and over will eventually convince people it’s true. And that is exactly what has happened. From Trump to the RNC to the Fox network, this lie has been repeated innumerable times. Trump’s base is now brainwashed; there’sh no hope they will ever accept the truth. The damage looks to be permanent. And it has given Trump a possible path back to the White House.

For a little more than seven months Trump and Republicans will continue to barrage the airwaves with the help of Fox, News Max, and other right-wing media to prevaricate about what happened in 2020.

An election that honest and knowledgeable experts have deemed to be one of the fairest elections in our lifetime.

Should NBC allow McDaniel to be any part of their future shows or coverage, they will be whitewashing what the liars have repeated, especially in the case of Trump and the 2024 contest.

Without pushing back hard, lying will continue to counter facts.
The chance for catastrophic outcomes will be ubiquitous.
Moreover, the current generation will see that destructive lying
is the new morality of America.