“The Bad Thing About Lies Is That They Aren’t True”

I’m trying really hard over here to find a better way to introduce an amusing piece out Wednesday from WaPo, but for the life of me I don’t think I can put it any better than I did on Monday.

So with that said, here’s a flashback:

The Trump administration is having a really — really — hard time coming to terms with the fact that when you run the country, you can’t just make sh*t up.

Or, I guess you can, but unlike when you’re not running the country, people are going to ask you to explain yourself when you say things that are exceptionally contentious, make momentous, seemingly unfounded allegations, or otherwise just act f*cking crazy.

And another:

Nearly half of the American public (and a large percentage of the European electorate) is completely enthralled with the same false narrative. Real news is now fake news to many voters. That’s a hilariously ironic twist. When the real news tried to reclaim the narrative by pointing out the fact that sites like Breitbart were in fact fake news (literally), Bannon simply turned the tables. He branded the real news fake. Suddenly, the people who coined the term “fake news” were seeing their own stories branded as “fake” by the very same fake news outlets they were trying to combat. Bannon — with the help of his “useful idiot” Donald Trump — had succeeded in ushering in a post-truth reality.

Right. See what I mean? Heisenberg perfection.

With that in mind, consider the following brief opinion piece from Tom Toles who notes that while “lying can be an effective political strategy, a downside to lies is that they’re wrong.”

Via WaPo

Trump is no doubt already fantasizing about where the Trump Monument will be placed (prominently), it’s size (biggest) and its materials (gold-plated). If he’s hasn’t decided on a form, I have a suggestion.

The Reign of Lies Memorial should be President Trump, portrayed as an emperor, riding in an elaborate fringed howdah atop a gigantic Republican elephant whose front foot is stepping on a cracked Capitol Building dome. I think that would fulfill all of Trump’s requirements while still reminding future generations what a horrible man he was and how lethal to democratic government.

As president today, Trump sits atop a party that has CRISPRed The Lie right into its genetic code. Need evidence of that? You don’t have to go back any further than, say, yesterday, to see in what way the Republicans are preparing to deliver on their breast-beating pledge to give you a better health-care plan than Obama did.

Now, in what has to be the most flamboyantly cynical and dangerous jujitsu the GOP has yet dreamed up, they have decided to apply the name “fake news” to … that’s right, real news. Trump has been misrepresenting facts and reality with truly breathtaking brazenness, confounding and tripping up independent media in their attempts to get things straight. And the sporadic times that the independent press does set the record straight, their reward is to have the President of the United States label it, and their entire organization “fake news.” Good luck, America.

And speaking of the independent media, they still haven’t caught on. They twist the bedsheets at night worrying about what they can fairly call a “lie.” Let’s just say that their exertions in this regard have been less than sufficient. My advice would be to shelve the careful formulations and report that a manically fraudulent administration is simply that. White gloves will not forestall Trump’s assault on their credibility or survival.

And speaking of assaults, the public had better start waking up to this mainlining of lies as well. It’s not simply warping governing institutions. You simply can’t build anything that works with mismeasured parts.

If a house divided against itself cannot stand, neither can one built on a foundation of sand that was labeled concrete.

Now cue the readers who will be shocked – shocked! – that Heisenberg steadfastly refuses to stop calling out this bullsh*t.