“Always tell the truth as you don’t have to remember as much,” said a voicemail greeting from an old friend. His greeting spoke volumes to me when I first heard it. He would alter his greeting at work on a daily basis offering adages or life lessons and this remains my favorite lesson of his.
To me, it is an important lesson as when people do not tell the truth, not only do they have to remember more stories, the lies are like loose strings in a woven fabric. They will eventually begin to unravel. This is especially true when people in leadership positions lie. Their lies are so visible, others have to adjoin their lies with the so-called leader’s. That leaves greater exposure as there are now more strings to unravel.
It truly saddens me how the truth has become more of a commodity these days. Politicians feel they can get away with exaggerations or even bald-faced lies. The know pseudo-news outlets that support their tribe or party will cover for them. To be frank, when someone knowingly covers for a lie, that is also lying.
All politicians lie, but by far the worst of the lot is the former president. But, that is truly not news, as an attorney who worked for him for years before he was elected said the former president “lies every day, even about things of no consequence.” Similar quotes can be found by more than a few people who worked for him over the years and in the White House.
Yet, too many believe this person. He did not win the election – he lost. It was not stolen from him – he lost. He lost because he got seven million fewer votes. He has been unable to prove election fraud losing well over sixty court cases, while winning one. That is a pretty miserable investment of money to pay attorneys for so little return. Some funders actually want their money back as they felt the former president cheated them by insinuating there was fraud.
Yet, these lies led to people dying on January 6 when he invited, incited and pointed protestors at the Capitol. Lies about the seriousness of COVID-19 led to more than deaths than needed and some people still believe it was all exaggerated or a hoax because of such. And, those folks who are still covering for those lies – such as in Texas where it was recently ruled illegal to use the Vaccine passports, reveal a how screwed up this former president has made things.
The truth matters. People rely on politicians to tell them the truth. We need to believe them, but when a president, governor or senator lies, it devalues our country. Being a sycophant to an untruthful person does not bode well for one’s reputation. And, these sycophants know they are lying, which bothers me as much as the lying itself.
musingsofanoldfart 
Truth? What is that?
VJ, that is the opposite of what comes out of the mouths or fingers of too many politicians, too many times. A favorite story is a director of a Baptist long term care facility was given acclaim for no COVID cases the first part of last year. How did he do it? He heard the president at the time say it was a hoax and not to worry about and knew, based on experience watching this person, he needed to dig further. After doing some research, he took actions with staff that helped prevent COVID cases. In other words, he knew not to believe the former president and acted accordingly. Keith
I think the overlying (no pun intended) problem is that society has come to expect lies from politicians. We have been de-sensitized to a point of danger. Good on the director!
Agreed on the danger.
Note to Readers: It is not just the most recent former president who is known to have lied, although with the exception of Nixon, no one comes close to the rampant rate of lying by Trump. Richard Nixon ran a burglary ring from the White House and lied about it. He said “I am not a crook.” He was wrong. Bill Clinton said very emphatically, “I did not have sexual relations with that woman.” He lied. Ronald Reagan lied about selling arms to Iran to raise money for the Contra rebels, an impeachable offense. Barack Obama lied about keeping your doctor. George W. Bush lied about weapons of mass destruction and invaded a country where Americans and allies were killed. Eisenhower, JFK, LBJ and Nixon all lied about the Vietnam War as reported in the Pentagon Papers not telling Americans it was an unwinnable war. And, so on. What bothers me most is when people die because of a president’s lies.
Trump lies and people take action. It’s illegal action, insurrection and they are rightly arrested for such, It remains to be seen how /if they will be punished. But as the instigator of that action through his lies should Trump also not be punished? Politicians regularly lie while talking of other politicians making up stories that will cost others votes. But sometimes those lies can put the other politician in danger as Hilary Clinton’s life was endangered. Politicians caught in a deliberate lie should be punished especially these days when it seems there are so many willing to believe them.
Hugs
Agreed. I am all for accountability.
This is such a great comparison: lose strings in a woven fabric. I still believe that so many loose strings will eventually become a snare.
Agreed.
😊
Sadly, too many people purport to believe the lies, knowing full well they are lies, thus lending false legitimacy to the lies. This nation is in chaos because of lies and conspiracy theories and if we held everyone accountable for perpetuating the lies, nearly half the nation, including some children, would be in prison. But at the very least, prison is where I would like to see each and every one of our paid public servants who have lied to us, starting with the former guy, spend the rest of their lives. Instead, the fools who pretend to believe the lies will re-elect them over and over and over again, possibly even the former guy.
Jill, I like your term “false legitimacy” as it is apt. As we have discussed, it is the legislators who know he is lying, support his lying and lie some for him which frustrate me. That is about as low as one can go, especially when people get hurt. Keith
Apparently those legislators simply tear up their Oath of Office within an hour of saying it. The frightening part is that so many people seem to blindly accept the lies they are told. Has our education system really failed so badly?
Jill, I think we choose to be told what we want to hear. It surprises me when fans of the former president do not see him as untruthful. Keith
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Thomas Paine
“Let them call me rebel and welcome, I feel no concern from it,” Paine announced in The Crisis, “but I should suffer the misery of devils, were I to make a whore of my soul by swearing allegiance to one whose character is that of a sottish, stupid, stubborn, worthless, brutish man.”
This is the attitude I always thought should the measure of every American but especially those who choose public service, who take an oath to serve and protect the people who choose them as their representatives. Paine’s comment was aimed at King George and the colonists who were faithful to him.
We cannot doubt how it applies to the sycophants who are faithful to Trump. Are they capable of recognizing the lies? The fact that the lying goes on does not mean that we are inured to the lies. It means we do not have the means to stop it nor to get those people out of office. It means that about half of our politicians don’t feel shame at what they do in public.
Another fact is that the lying is also obvious to our friends and our enemies. We cannot expect them to have any measure of respect for this brand of men and women. Which one of those people who claim to be patriots and leaders in the Republican ranks could be trusted to stand up against our enemies or to deal truthfully with our allies? Not one could stand before the United Nations and not be laughed out of the hall.
“Why do otherwise proud and self-respecting people submit to the sheer effrontery of the tyrant, his sense that he can get away with saying and doing anything he likes, his spectacular indecency.”
Stephen Greenblatt: Tyrant, Shakespeare on Politics
Cagir, this is well said. That word “respect” stands out. For some reason, this word seems undesired. Winning at all costs is the more honored trait than respect. Keith
If ‘the piece’ comes undone before the next election, we may salvage our constitution and our republic. If not, then we will come undone as a nation. The courts are already making decisions based on the lies.
Cagir, sadly, the fear of coming “undone” is apt. The former president’s niece said her uncle will “burn it all down to avoid losing the election.” Keith