Map of life expectancy at birth from Global Education Project.

Monday, April 29, 2019

The New Epistemology

Folks at the WaPo apparently have plenty of time on their hands, because they've been keeping track of the lies of the Resident. They have so far tallied 10,000 since he took office, so the turning over of the odometer has occasioned an announcement. The torrent of lies has accelerated, from 601 days to get to 5,000 to 226 to get to 10,000.

That's pretty damn weird. He repeats his lies dozens of times even after they have been thoroughly debunked. Truth is not just irrelevant, it seems not to exist. It isn't even a category. Okay, that's disturbing but it's even more disturbing to see the contortions the corporate media, including the major news networks and the New York Times go through to avoid using the word "lie" to describe what are in fact lies. Even the WaPo, when they aren't specifically writing a story about his pathological lying, generally avoids the word. And of course the Republicans in congress are just fine with it.

Mitt Romney lied constantly as well, during his presidential campaign, and the corporate media wouldn't impose any consequences. Fortunately he didn't become president, and he seems to have toned down the prevarication as a senator, but basically, there is no penalty for politicians lying. We cannot have a functional republic while this is happening.

Update: And here's more commentary from Aaron Rupar. It's not just the quantity of lies, it's also the outrageousness of the lies. The allergy the corporate media have to the word "lie" when it comes to this malignant lunatic is just inexplicable -- particularly because he is demonizing them along with his other perceived enemies. They seem to be gluttons for punishment.

And in other news, sure, he's not the only politician who ever lied but this is not in the same category, or even in the same universe. 

Update 2: Why do I have to keep saying this. You may not post as "unknown." Choose a handle.


2 comments:

Don Quixote said...

Your last comment is as follows: "And in other news, sure, he's not the only politician who ever lied but this is not in the same category, or even in the same universe."

This is the rationalization I hear from supporters of Shitler when confronted with the fact that he lies so unbelievably often and heinously: "Wel, all politicians lie."

The resident has the gift of being able to say anything that comes into his head as if it's truth. I've said this for years: it doesn't matter if you're Jesus or Hitler: if you say what you mean with the conviction that it is absolutely true, millions of people will follow you because most people don't know what they think. We're pack animals; so many people are lost and looking for someone who seems to know where she or he is going.

Mark P said...

So many of Trump's lies are so transparently untrue that I can't understand why he says them. All I can figure is that his lying is pathological. Why his followers insist of believing or saying that they believe his obvious lies is another question.