The verdict is in and it’s unanimous in certain quarters —like the mainstream media, democrat officials and elected politicians, out of work democratic politicians (Claire McCaskill is one), lefty think tanks and pundits— Donald Trump is disqualified from becoming president. Why? Because he’s a liar (the more earnest ones add pathological for extra oomph). Post the Biden/Trump debate on June 27, the cries of “liar, liar pants on fire came from all over the democratic metaverse. To their credit, the mainstream media got with the program first, switching from what had suddenly become the embarrassing topic of Biden’s fitness for office to Donald Trump’s unfitness: “Mr. Trump unleashed a torrent of false claims…” [Kristin Welker, Meet the Press, 6/30/2024]. Donald Trump lied over and over and over again… [Joe Scarborough, Morning Joe, 6/28/2024)
It didn’t take long for democratic politicos to highjack the new fable: “Donald Trump lied the entire 90 minutes…whenever his mouth was moving, he was lying…can’t have someone like that in the Oval Office. That’s not a talent we need leading the free world.” [Senator Raphael Warnock, Meet the Press, 6/30/2024].
Eager to get on the “Never Trump” bandwagon, members of the academic community: Former President Donald Trump peppered his remarks with a steady stream of lies, half-truths and misinformation. [Karrin Vasby Anderson, Colorado State University Department of Communication Studies, Naked Capitalism, 6/28/2024]
From a former president, Barack Obama whose own difficulty with the truth was the highlight of his two terms in office: “[Donald Trump] lies through his teeth for his own benefit” [Barack Obama, 6/28/2024]
Finally, we hear from maestro Biden himself whose bumbling, stumbling performance occasioned a new, more virulent round of TDS (Trump derangement syndrome): “It’s hard to debate a liar.”
Whatever shortcomings disqualify Trump from being a U.S. president, lying is not one of them. Some of the presidents considered the best were liars. Even President Roosevelt had his moments —“I have said this before but I shall say it again and again and again. Your boys are not going to be sent into any foreign wars.” This promise lasted less than two years. In an eerie reprise, twenty years later another President made the same promise that Americans would not fight in Vietnam. Another lie that ultimately cost the lives of 58,000 Americans and over a million Vietnamese.
Since the end of World War II, fourteen U.S. presidents — 7 republicans and 7 democrats have had one thing in common: they’ve all been liars, most of them serial liars. In a stunning irony, Trump is the only post-war president to tell the truth at least once and puncture the fantasy that the U.S. without a selfish bone in its body has only invaded countries and deposed rulers to restore freedom and democracy. Brushing aside the usual lies to whitewash the U.S. invasion of Syria: “We left troops behind [in Syria] only for the oil…we’re keeping the oil, we have the oil, the oil is secure.” [Being a newbie in high-stakes politics, Trump had lots to learn mainly that truth telling does not lead to the Oval Office. He was, however a fast learner]
Why do all U.S. presidents lie? Perhaps the better question is Why not? Lying in the top echelons of government is not only a presidential prerogative but the grounds on which U.S. foreign policy is formulated. Truth has become an impediment to U.S. dreams of world hegemony. When presidents take the oath of office, they swear allegiance to the Big Lie: “We are the indispensable nation. We stand tall. We see further into the future.” [Madeleine Albright, Secretary of State during the Iraq War] What has the Big Lie wrought? Invasions and wholesale destruction of countries: Libya, Iraq, Syria and Ukraine in just the past decade.
Whether it’s weapons of mass destruction that weren’t [Republican George W. Bush on Iraq] or the lie that citizens were being slaughtered by the military [Democrat Barack Obama on Libya], presidential liars come in both red and blue. While America tries and fails to maintain its power as the world’s sole hegemon, the lies of current presidents seem more and more pathetic: Biden invoking the 1950’s “domino theory” to explain his support for the catastrophe in Ukraine: Putin, whom he referred to as a “war criminal” “wants all of Ukraine. … Do you think he’ll stop? … What do you think happens to Poland and other places?”” As with most presidential lies, this one is unsupported by the facts, evidence-free, and worse a relic dating back to the Cold War
Over the decades as presidential lies have become catastrophes, even a gullible American public has started to “wise up.” When it comes to Joe Biden, the “public” lies take a backseat to the lies he tells himself. No, Joe, you can’t convince the entire world what their eyes and ears have already made crystal clear. This is one lie that cannot go through the wash cycle and come out clean: “I know what I do know. I know how to tell the truth. I know right from wrong. I know how to do this job. I know how to get things done. I know, like millions of Americans, when you get knocked down, you get back up.” [President Biden at a North Carolina rally, the day after the debate]
Maybe it’s time to stay knocked down.
Tags: Presidential liars, Joe Biden, Donald Trump, TDS
