If the truth frees us (John 8:32), it follows that lies enslave us. Maybe even more dangerous, they anesthetize us.
Peter Sagal said that “President Trump is to lying what Charles Lindbergh was to flying. Nobody else would dare go that far!” He’s a world class fibber. Everybody knows it. Some proceed as though they don’t. Others just don’t care anymore. But we’re all just numb to it. We’re walking around with Novocained brains.
Joseph Goebbels, the chief propagandist for the Nazi Party, famously said, “If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it…the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State.” Trump is not a Nazi. But he sure lies like one.
Let’s go on a very brief tour of a small sampling of his recents.
- Just the other day he claimed that during their search for classified documents, the FBI, under orders of President Biden, attempted to assassinate him at his Mar-a-Lago estate. “Biden’s DOJ was authorized to shoot me!” (I won’t even dignify this one with a remark.)
- “I’m not allowed to testify because of a gag order.” (Nope. The order has nothing to do with him testifying. It’s about him intimidating witnesses, the prosecutor, and the judge.)
- “Crime is down in Venezuela by 67% because they’re taking their gangs and their criminals and depositing them very nicely into the United States.” (No, no, no evidence to that effect.)
- Democrats support abortion measures that result in the “execution of babies after birth.” (Maybe he dreamed this one? More likely, dreamed it up!)
- “Your Social Security will be destroyed by the people coming in. There’s too many of them. It’s not sustainable.” (Not really, no. If they come in and work and contribute to it like native borns, they’ll receive the same benefits and not drain the pool.)
- “Eighty-two percent of the country understands that (the 2020 election) was a rigged election.” (Maybe 82% of his family members, but I doubt it.)
- “They are trying to make it illegal to question the results of a bad election.” (Hmm, never heard that from anybody anywhere. It’s called the 1st Amendment.)
- It’s an oldie but a goodie, but one of my all-time favorites: “I love women. Believe me, I love women. I love women. And you know what else, I have great respect for women, believe me.” (First of all, “respect for women.” What? And when someone says “Believe me,” what is your first reaction? When they say it over and over, that should be your first clue.)
As Jimmy Durante used to say, “I gotta million of ‘em!” But let’s leave it at that for now.
Some people are better liars than others. They’re not better people, but better at being bad than other people. Their lies are more believable and can be difficult to track down and prove faulty. Then there are those who claim things that everyone with half a tea spoon of brain cells knows is unmitigated malarkey. That’s the kind of liar Donald Trump is.
He has a “tell” (you know, like in poker) when he’s lying. He shows it every time he opens his mouth. We either automatically shove all our chips to his side of the table or call his bluff. Unfortunately, millions of Americans let him run off with their rent money every time.
Have we become numbed by his incessant lying, not to mention his cruelty, weirdness, and egomaniacal speech, that it doesn’t even register anymore? We swallow it without the least thought of its toxicity. What he says is like a tapeworm, which left untreated can live in a host body for up to 30 years! (Wow, is that a disgusting thought or what?) Is that how long it will take for us to have all his balderdashes work their way out of our system?
I know some of you will pull a “whataboutism” on me. What about Biden or the Libs? Really? That’s like comparing a tee-ball player with Shohei Ohtani. Some are just more accomplished liars than others. Trump is in a category all by himself. Admittedly, some of his bootlicking lackies are improving with practice.
Lastly (for now), what disturbs me most is the horde of folk who identify as “Christian” that don’t seem to be bothered by the truth decay that is more than a little bit instigated by the pervasive post-presidential bunk. Of all people, shouldn’t we who claim to follow the One who identifies himself as “The Truth” (John 14:6), be first in line to tell the truth about lies? Shouldn’t we be the most disgusted by post-truth politics and the moral danger that tears into the fabric of our culture?
You probably heard there’s an election coming. If you hate the thought of either one of the two as president for a second term and can’t find it in yourself to vote for the current office holder, I implore you to stay home on election day and pray for mercy for our great nation.
barney wiget 