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His whole life has been a string of gross and obvious Sharpie marker lies that nobody ever called him on.
He lies like a child lies.
It's almost like he discovered our whole system is set up to let rich white guys cheat, and the only limitation is a sense of personal shame.
He lies like a child lies.
It's almost like he discovered our whole system is set up to let rich white guys cheat, and the only limitation is a sense of personal shame.
The most that can be done, after a lifetime spent telling provable untruths, is to frame the next lie as a question.
"DID this person who tells obvious lies every day tell THIS obvious lie?"
Which gives him the opening he needs: The chance to lie, shamelessly, "no, I didn't."
"DID this person who tells obvious lies every day tell THIS obvious lie?"
Which gives him the opening he needs: The chance to lie, shamelessly, "no, I didn't."
He lies when it doesn't matter.
He lies even when the truth would serve him better.
He lies, because to him lying is ALWAYS preferable.
He knows a critical mass will agree with the lie—ANY lie—just so they can move on and get back to normal.
Which is how 'normal' changes.
He lies even when the truth would serve him better.
He lies, because to him lying is ALWAYS preferable.
He knows a critical mass will agree with the lie—ANY lie—just so they can move on and get back to normal.
Which is how 'normal' changes.
The mistake would be thinking this is a story about Trump and not a story about how we have allowed power to arrange itself.
The gross blatancy of his lying, the total lack of real consequence, exposes the awful truth; we are a culture optimized for liars.
The gross blatancy of his lying, the total lack of real consequence, exposes the awful truth; we are a culture optimized for liars.
Trump knows there’s no way to call him out, no way to cancel him, no matter what he says or does.
It’s no coincidence that in this exact moment, we have a new cottage industry of privileged “thinkers” for whom the great threat is not Trump, but “callout cancel culture.”
It’s no coincidence that in this exact moment, we have a new cottage industry of privileged “thinkers” for whom the great threat is not Trump, but “callout cancel culture.”
For cosseted conservative professional opinion-havers, Trump represents a grave threat, not because he threatens their world, but because he exposes it.
Trump’s lies are not their target. Their target are those who refuse any longer to accept a system optimized for those lies.
Trump’s lies are not their target. Their target are those who refuse any longer to accept a system optimized for those lies.
They like Biden, b/c Biden is willing to swallow *their* lie, which is that Trump is the disease, not the symptom, the coal mine not the canary
They hate Trump, b/c Trump—dumb enough to believe his own bullshit—makes it so much harder for them to tell that lie.
They hate Trump, b/c Trump—dumb enough to believe his own bullshit—makes it so much harder for them to tell that lie.
Trump’s the great fear: an emperor so dumb and self-obsessed he won’t even pretend he’s wearing the clothes
Hard to maintain the ruse, if you’re one whose position depends on insisting to the crowd you see his finery, if he keeps squatting to relieve himself on the cobblestones
Hard to maintain the ruse, if you’re one whose position depends on insisting to the crowd you see his finery, if he keeps squatting to relieve himself on the cobblestones
They lie whether the particular lie helps them or not. The lie is the thing. Even a self-harming lie corrodes truth.
A liar doesn’t want to be believed. A liar wants to destroy belief as an option.
And that’s the sum total of the entire Republican Party.
[Curtain]
A liar doesn’t want to be believed. A liar wants to destroy belief as an option.
And that’s the sum total of the entire Republican Party.
[Curtain]
