TRUMP/GOP LIES VS. THE
FACTS
By Mary Coen
Trump tells lies. All
kinds of lies. The public knows this and even his supporters acknowledge this.
But we all are in danger of becoming immune to the effects of the constant
barrage of lies; so many are meaningless that we get fatigued trying to
weed out the truly significant ones. And there are seriously significant lies--ones
that can affect our national security, that can affect the well-being of our
citizens, and can make a big difference in our presidential election campaign.
So how do we decide
which deserve ignoring and which we should correct whenever we can? For sheer
self-preservation I looked up dictionary definitions and was surprised to find
that there are distinctly different types of lies--some like exaggeration and
denial and omission that of course we all recognize, but some less obvious like
minimalization which is consciously withholding the full truth, and
restructuring, which is changing the context surrounding an event.
So about exaggeration:
we can simply roll our eyes about such blatant assertions as having the largest
attendance for an inauguration, but his exaggerations about more serious issues
like the economy or immigration not only put bad information out there, but
also make it impossible to have legitimate conversations about solutions
to problems.
Lies of denial are
usually believed or disbelieved on the basis of the amount of trust one places
in the people involved and Trump has shown that he can persist in a denial
until he's caught. Then without acknowledgement or apology, he simply changes
his tune. While it's true that Bill Clinton denied (to Congress) his
relationship with Monica Lewinsky, for which he was impeached, he ultimately
acknowledged and apologized publicly. Lies of denial are bellwethers--the sheer
number of Donald Trump denials, from not knowing Stormy Daniels to never
having met Lev Parnas, should lead to the understanding that lying is a habit
for Trump. Not at all meaningless but a way of life.
Lies of omission are
often missed. They are only exposed from some other source--such as the
fill-in-the-blanks transcript of a famous "perfect" phone call. Or
finding out that Trump's touted bill for giving veterans "choice" in
medical care was actually just a consolidation of a program created in 2014
under Obama. Of course, these types of untruths could also be considered
"restructuring" or taking out of context. Perhaps the most egregious
use of this type of lie comes with the constant claim of our current economy as
the "best ever", as if a strong stock market indicates that all
segments of the country should be thriving. This always smacks as a bit
of the blame-the-victim game: if you are having trouble with the costs of
housing, child care, education or medical bills (which continue to go up),
it must be your fault since the stock market is doing just fine, thank you.
And according to Trump,
manufacturing is booming, coal mining is making money, and new companies are
popping up all over. But....manufacturing jobs have decreased, as have coal
mining jobs--fewer workers, more machinery--and the great majority of new
companies have an average of under ten employees. The great Republican economic
adage of a " rising tide lifts all boats" only works for those who
have boats. Everyone else gets swamped.
It came as a surprise to
me that minimalizing something can be considered a type of lie. It purposely
degrades important aspects, as in Trump's referral to the troops’ concussions
inflicted by the retaliations for the assassination of General Soleimani as
merely "headaches", and not a true medical issue.
The ongoing
proliferation of lies, the constant barrage and sheer numbers of Trump’s
outpouring, and the collusion of administration officials and even much of the
leadership of the Republican party has an effect: confusion. It is easier to
get your news from one source than to try to figure out who is lying. And
Republicans increasingly get their news from a single source (Fox) making
it difficult to counter all the lies. Face to face contact, if done
non-confrontationally, may be the only other perspective that actually gets
heard. But how to pick out what lies to confront when there are so many?
The biggest issues for most people are health care, personal economics e.g. childcare,
housing, and safety fears, including the drug epidemic. Finding just a few
sentences to reframe what the Republicans falsely claim on each issue might be
the only way to engage. For example, noting that the Democratic controlled
House of Representatives has passed over 400 bills that were sent to the senate
in the last year and a half, and not even discussed there, is a response to
many digs about do-nothing Democrats who only focus on witch hunts.
Likewise noting that the president has taken money for his wall from the budget
for the upgrade of military bases, that he has removed troops from some places
while increasing troops in others, that he has demeaned some servicemen and
interfered with military justice, is a reminder that he doesn't really honor
the military.
It is easy to look up
some easy answers to the administration’s lies online, or at your local
library. There are fact-check sites available that keep up to date. It's easy
to get overwhelmed; fortunately, it's also easy to get the truth.
