POLITICS

The Big Lie, The Greater Fool

What we’re seeing now is bald-faced deception that is no longer based in reality or supported by facts, and on a scale that is hard to process.

Image comp by the author.

It’s hard to know just what to call the Republican Party’s willful abandonment of the truth. The current strategy of not just bending or twisting the truth to suit their needs, but the straightforward endeavor to tell us that the sky is green, that up is down, and that there is no man behind the curtain even when we clearly see him, is a new low.

Is it gaslighting? Next-level propaganda? Just good, old-fashioned lying? There’s nothing new about politicians lying. It’s like breathing for most of them. Kissing babies and kicking dogs.

It used to be held a little closer to the vest, or at least to the truth. We called it spin. We expected them to stretch or bend the truth, but not to abandon it altogether. We understood they were going to present themselves and their policies in the best possible light. It was showmanship. A version of the truth, but still close enough to recognize it.

What we’re seeing now is bald-faced deception that is no longer based in reality or supported by facts, and on a scale that is hard to process. They will deny the…