Excursions In the Garden of Assholes and Prophets
I just got word from the paper that tomorrow they are running something I wrote a few days ago as an online column. Here's their edited version, if you are interested. Understandably they changed my quote of Steve Bannon's media strategy from "flooding the zone with shit," to "flooding the stone with (lies.)" Bannon's quote has more pizzazz. Haha.
Some reflections on truth in the age of Trump
The lies, lies, lies, lies, lies, lies, lies — the endless stream of never-ending lies. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump lies about big things, small things, insignificant things and things of enormous significance. The problem is that he was already the biggest liar in history, telling the most lies at the highest rate to the most people for 10-plus years, and it’s now getting worse. There is no new low to which Trump will not stoop. That’s a big problem.
But all politicians lie, right?
Yes, all politicians lie, but most tend to shade the truth to their own favor, versus spouting flat-out falsehoods.
PolitiFact rates politicians’ statements as being true, mostly true, half true, mostly false, false or “pants on fire.” On that website, 16% of Vice President’s Kamala Harris’s statements are rated false. Here’s one from last year. “There are polls that also say I have great approval ratings.”
Yep, that was false! Remember when nobody liked her? Ha ha. It’s also the normal type of thing that every politician would say. It’s the type of thing that any of us would say. Sure, maybe she took a poll in her household and she was very popular.
Harris, meanwhile, has zero “pants on fire” lies, per Politifact. That’s a good thing, because her candidacy probably would not have survived even one.
In stark contrast, per Politifact, Trump makes “mostly false” or “false” statements 57% of the time and an additional 19% of his statements are rated “pants on fire.” Somehow, 76% of his statements are garbage. Only 3% are listed simply as “true.”
To use a Trump phrase, he is lying “at a level nobody’s ever seen before.”
If anyone doesn’t believe that Trump lies that much, just read The Washington Post’s catalog of 30,573 demonstrable lies that Trump told while president, and then get back to me. Don’t read a few and skim, don’t stop at 100, 1,000 or 10,000. Read all 30,573 and get back to me.
A hurricane of lies
What is the truth? Who is to say? Am I to say? Should you trust me? No, of course not. Read as much as you can and judge for yourself.
By contrast, Trump believes that if something comes out of his mouth, is not to be questioned.
And for many, the simple fact that it came out of his mouth indeed makes it true. Someone who tells you that they are the only one in possession of the ultimate truth is a liar. This is a hallmark shared by — and I’m sorry to say it, but it’s true — every single cult leader.
There’s always a perfect current lie of the day. I started writing this a few days ago and I keep having to update it.
A few days ago, the Trump lie was that President Joe Biden was doing a terrible job with the hurricane relief, and that the governors of Georgia and South Carolina were both critical of him. In truth, they were each publicly praising the job Biden was doing. Publicly, on camera, undeniably praising Biden. To say the governors were critical is a “pants on fire” lie.
Trump’s hurricane lies were actually causing people to not even sign up for relief at a time when over $100 million had been given out.
Some people pass off Trump’s lies as “just words,” but this is one of many examples in which they have demonstrably negative real-world impacts.
Take a second and think about that. Trump is flat-out exploiting an immense tragedy for political reasons. “Pants on fire” lies at a time like this should be disqualifying.
Then it came out that Trump claimed that the CEO of JPMorgan Chase, Jamie Dimon, announced that he was supporting Trump.
Dimon immediately responded that it was untrue. Again, it was just some garbage Trump made up. Biden and Harris got good economic news (better than expected job numbers, unemployment dropping, inflation back to normal), so Trump had to do something, right?
Dear reader, whoever you are, the two of us would be ashamed of ourselves if we acted this way.
Lies and violent rhetoric
But it always gets worse.
Now Trump and his son, Eric, are saying that the Democrats were behind last summer’s first assassination attempt, as if it wasn’t simply some loser nihilist who was made fun of for not making the rifle team.
Don’t you love how Trump takes something such as the criticism that he is a threat to democracy — you know, because he desperately tried to steal the last election a hundred different ways — and uses it as a reason to demand zero criticism?
Critics wanted to see him killed? Nonsense.
Because Trump is a threat to democracy, and because we believe in democracy, we want him defeated at the ballot box. Nobody suggested the Trump should be killed, versus being defeated at the ballot box. Nobody.
And there’s no evidence that criticism of Trump inspired his would-be assassin, whose Google searches showed he was looking for Trump or Biden rallies in his area. Pants on fire.
Just to put this violent-rhetoric-from-the-left nonsense to bed, Trump himself suggested executing Gen. Mark Milley, who was his own chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Trump suggested a military tribunal for Republican former U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney (for being critical of him). Trump suggested that “Second Amendment people” could stop Hillary Clinton if she won in 2016. Trump has made jokes about Paul Pelosi, the husband of Democratic U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi, getting attacked in his home with a hammer.
The list goes on and on, and on.
These are actual Trump statements, with Trump as the original source — not ridiculous confabulations and insinuations. And, yes, they are taken in context.
‘Flooding the zone’
Trump’s dangerous vilification of the Haitian immigrants through repeated lies was only a few weeks ago, but it feels like ancient history at this point.
For all of his smoothness, U.S. Sen. JD Vance, is Trump’s brother in deception. What kind of politician would say this in a debate, as Vance did: “I believe the rules were that you were not going to fact check me.”
Lies are their strategy, their way of life. Trump’s own former communications director, Stephanie Grisham, said that Trump told her to just lie over and over and over — and people will believe it’s true.
Perhaps Trump adopted the maxim of Seinfeld character George Costanza: “It’s not a lie if you believe it.” Trump has made that his defining philosophy.
There’s a reason for this degradation of the public conversation. It’s what Trump’s former strategist (and current inmate) Steve Bannon called, “flooding the zone with (lies).”
It’s a strategy for dealing with the media. It’s Vladimir Putin’s strategy in Russia. You put out such a high volume of disinformation — even saying things that contradict other things — so that the citizens literally lose the ability to even discern the truth.
The intent is not to inform, the intent is public disorientation.
This is what’s going on, too, when Trump says that Harris is “mentally disabled.” Or when he says that he’s better looking than she is. Or when he says that he has a beautiful body for sunbathing, much better than Biden’s. It’s what’s going on when he says that he’s greater than Elvis Presley. Do you get the idea that Trump believes that he could walk on water for longer than Jesus?
It’s just a constant flow of total garbage, resulting in many voters disengaging from politics altogether because they can’t tell what’s real.
Contempt for his supporters
All of this is a great strategy if you care about nothing other than yourself.
In his 2011 book “Lying,” neuroscience expert Sam Harris wrote, “By lying, we deny others a view of the world as it is. Our dishonesty not only influences the choices they make, it often determines the choices they can make — and in ways we cannot always predict. Every lie is a direct assault upon the autonomy of those we lie to.”
I believe that Trump’s lies reveal his contempt of the people who believe them, his own followers. Why deny them the truth? What is there to be afraid of? Withholding the truth proves that his supporters don’t have his respect. In Trump’s fantasy world, he is separated from the rest of us.
Remember when it came out that, while then-President Trump spent months being publicly upbeat about the U.S. conquering COVID-19, he told reporter Bob Woodward, in a taped interview, that he knew exactly how dangerous and deadly it was?
“I wanted to always play it down,” Trump told Woodward in March 2020. “I still like playing it down because I don’t want to create a panic.”
So lie, because we can’t handle the truth, even though we have to live with the truth?
Do you see what I mean about Trump’s lies having real-world impact? Those who are suffering pay the price for Trump downplaying tragedies to make himself look better.
Listen to the audiobook of Woodward’s “The Trump Tapes” and discover exactly how little Trump cared about the people being affected by COVID-19 — and how much he cared about how bad it made him look.
(And now, as I was writing this, Woodward is reporting that Trump gave COVID-19 tests to Putin for his personal use during height of the pandemic, at a time when very few people here could get them. Putin told Trump not to tell anyone.)
The Big Lie
The Big Lie of Trump’s presidency, of course, was that he won the 2020 election, which he declared on election night, when it was still impossible to even know.
The Big Lie of This Moment is that the 2024 election is rigged, which Trump must say to hedge his bet. It would be off-brand for him to lose, so, in his mind, it is literally impossible for him to lose. He wins, or it was rigged.
Each day, Trump reminds me of one of Voltaire’s ideas from hundreds of year ago, which can be paraphrased as “Anyone who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.”
Or, if you prefer, how about Psalm 55: 20-21:
“My companion attacks his friends; he violates his covenant. His talk is smooth as butter, yet war is in his heart; his words are more soothing than oil, yet they are drawn swords.”
This all comes down to one key thing, perfectly summed up with two words — the same two words that the interviewer in the 1999 film “Magnolia” asked Tom Cruise’s character, Frank T.J. Mackey.
The question ended up breaking Mackey, leading to his salvation.
“Why lie?”
Trump is far beyond the chance of any kind of come-to-Jesus moment in which he realizes that it’s wrong to lie, but I refuse to believe that our country is beyond redemption.
We just have to ask ourselves one question: Why believe lies?
Buddha, in “Dhammapada,” states: “Conquer anger with love, evil with good, meanness with generosity, and lies with truth.”
Those words are as true now as they were thousands of years ago. It’s time for Trump to learn that Buddha would have been, as Trump likes to say, very unfair to him. Feel free to fact check me.
Where does this end? I don’t know, but when Trump’s most violent supporters are still being inspired by his lies, I fear that the events of Jan. 6, 2021, might someday look quaint.
For Voltaire’s sake, Kamala Harris must win the 2024 presidential election.
Ben Kreider is a political opinion writer, social critic and lifelong resident of Lancaster County.
October 11, 2024
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I love it when Obama slips into stand-up comedy mode.
“Constant attempts to sell you stuff. Who does that? Selling you gold sneakers and $100,000 watch and most recently, a Trump Bible. You know, he wants you to buy the word of God, Donald Trump edition. Got his name right there next to Matthew and Luke. You could not make this stuff up! If you saw that on Saturday Night Live you'd say, "that's going too far." No, he's doing that!"
One complaint. Obama missed an additional laugh line. It should have been, "And those Trump Bibles are made where? Not right here in Pennsylvania. He thought it would be a good idea to have them made in China! You could not make this stuff up!"
https://youtu.be/wzWzCc0d_a4
October 11, 2024
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Want an example of how backwards the world is right now? Breitbart posted an article about Johnny Rotten voting for Trump. I commented something like, "of course a guy who's guiding principle is chaos is going to vote for Trump." And now all these right-wingers are against me... they're reminding me that Democrats are allowing the riots... chiming in to preserve the honor of perhaps the world's most renowned anarchist???
October 11, 2020
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Nadal tied Federer in Grand Slam finals! (Of course 13 of his 20 titles are at the French.) He didn't drop a set in the whole tournament. I don't see how he couldn't do this for 10 more years.
October 11, 2020
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A lot of people mistrust polls, and I'm not making generalizations but many of them seem to be the type of people who believe Trump is guaranteed re-election. Scientific polls aren't perfect, but if they don't believe in polls, what on Earth could their belief based on? Are they just basing it on how great they think he is???
Can their belief really be as basic as, "Last time Hillary was up in the polls and Trump won, therefore whether Trump is up or down he is guaranteed reelection."
October 11, 2020
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It's almost funny when Trump supporters in Congress say that we need to let the next election decide whether Trump stays or goes, because there are only two possible outcomes- Trump wins, or Trump says election was rigged and he needs to stay.
October 11, 2019
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I have a prediction about today... it's going to be a big news day.
October 11, 2019
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John Fugelsang- "Look man, people on welfare are "abusing the system" but Trump just "took advantage of all available loopholes."
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It's easy to feel like we have little power as individuals, but we gain great strength when we decide to become part of something bigger than ourselves.
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From Freaks:
"Molecules of the protein myosin drag a ball of endorphins along an active filament into the inner part of the brain's parietal cortex, which produces feelings of happiness."
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=971335782978387&id=207188922726414&sfnsn=mo&mibextid=6aamW6
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Gretel feeding a 5-week-old Zuzu.
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10153303284198512&id=741063511&mibextid=NnVzG8
October 11, 2015
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In an experiment subjects were told to walk up to strangers until they no longer felt comfortable. They stopped 2 feet from attractive people and a foot from less attractive people. The conclusion- beauty is privileged space.
October 11, 2014
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It has been said that the chicken is only an egg's way of making another egg.
October 11, 2014
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The post office lady asked which stamps I wanted and I told her to give me whichever were the least popular. It confused her for a bit and then she gave me the set of paintings of the Hudson River.
October 11, 2014
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That old man in line at the grocery store who was only buying the Halloween Klondike bars... why was he smiling like that?
October 11, 2013
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What degenerate just bought my Marquis de Sade book? And what degenerate owned it before me? And... that's it, those are the only two questions.
October 11, 2013
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After all these years, finally a Halloween-themed Vice-Presidential debate. Vincent Price is on offense, but Eddie Munster seems unperturbed.
October 11, 2012
Postscript: Biden vs Ryan
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My Dinner With Andre was released on this day in 1981.
Andre: “Our minds are just focused on these goals and plans, which in themselves are not reality.”
Wally: “Goals and plans are not… they’re fantasy. They’re part of a dream life.”
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On this day in 1991, Anita Hill delivered her televised testimony concerning sexual harassment during the Clarence Thomas Supreme Court nomination. Spoiler alert- he did it. What an example of strength in the face of adversity.
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Eleanor Roosevelt was born on this day in 1884.
"A woman is like a tea bag; you never know how strong it is until it's in hot water."
I thought that was an Amish quote! Either way, it's disgusting. She must have had a dirty mind.
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Elmore Leonard was born on this day in 1925.
"Wonderful things can happen", Vincent said, "when you plant seeds of distrust in a garden of assholes."
You know what else he said? "It doesn't have to make sense, it just has to sound like it does."
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Vietnamese monk, Thích Nhất Hạnh, was born on this day in 1926.
"When another person makes you suffer, it is because he suffers deeply within himself, and his suffering is spilling over. He does not need punishment; he needs help. That's the message he is sending."
This is something that Zuzu understood intuitively, when she suggested that her and I mail a mandala that she colored to Donald Trump.
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Icon of the nineties, Luke Perry, was born on this day in 1966.
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Artie Lange was born on this day in 1967. He has a great story about Mitch Hedberg giving him a joke. Mitch said that since he wasn't fat he couldn't do the joke, so Artie could have it.
"They say that you have to wait a half hour after you eat before you go swimming. I've never been swimming because it's never been a half hour since I last ate."
Mitch came back later that night and said that Artie was right, it is a good joke, and that if he can gain 100 lb before Artie does it on TV, he wants it back.
A couple weeks later, Artie was eating dinner with Norm Macdonald, and Norm told the joke, but about Artie! Artie asked him where he heard it and he said that a fat guy told it at The Comedy Store. Artie ran into Mitch couple weeks after that and called him out on it.
Mitch said, "I get fucked up a lot, so I probably told that joke to a lot of fat guys." Haha!
https://youtu.be/H93LnbpHoeg
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Redd Foxx left this on this day in 1991.
"What's the difference between a pickpocket and a peeping tom? A pickpocket snatches watches."
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Other notable deathdays- Other notable deathdays- my 12x and 13x great-geandfather Hans Herr (1725), Jean Cocteau (1963)
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Why is my disbelief suspended when watching black and white movies? It's not suspended when I watch a movie that takes place in another country but they speak english.
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Do yourself a favor and watch Franklin Swimming In Air
https://youtu.be/c_vdo12C3Dw
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Nothing to see here, just a picture of the Beastie Boys with "Weird Al" Yankovic.
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Excellent op-ed.
Cohen: It’s as if we’re in the final days of the Age of Reason—the Enlightenment-induced commitment to evidence, science and objective fact. “Truth isn’t truth,” the President’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani has said, and facts are “in the eye of the beholder.” We are told, without any sense of Orwellian irony, to deny the very existence of our external reality.
https://time.com/5897501/conspiracy-theory-misinformation/
October 11, 2020
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If this is something you're interested in, compare and contrast Biden's Covid-19 plan with Trump's. It's not hard, Trump doesn't have a plan on its campaign website. I'll take that to mean one of three things- he doesn't care about covid-19 (do u?), just think positively and don't worry about it, or more of the same.
https://joebiden.com/covid-plan/
October 11, 2020
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McSweeney's- REBELS, PLEASE JOIN ME IN WISHING EMPEROR PALPATINE WELL by SCOTT BOLOHAN
"On behalf of the entire Rebel Alliance, we wish you a full and speedy recovery, Emperor Palpatine. We hope to see you back on your feet, trying to kill us and the entire galaxy again as soon as possible."
https://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/rebels-please-join-me-in-wishing-emperor-palpatine-well
October 11, 2020
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Andre, in My Dinner With Andre- "I wouldn't put on an electric blanket for any reason. First, I'd be worried if I get electrocuted. No, I don't trust technology. But I mean, the main thing, Wally, is that I think that kind of comfort just separates you from reality in a very direct way."
Also...
"Do you know, in Sanskrit the root of the verb "to be" is the same as "to grow" or "to make grow"."
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Jerry Seinfeld: You can measure distance by time. "How far away is it?" "Oh about 20 minutes." But it doesn't work the other way. "When do you get off work?" "Around 3 miles."
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Confucius- "He who exercises government by means of his virtue may be compared to the north polar star, which keeps its place and all the stars turn towards it."
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Chico Marx left us on this day in 1961.
"Who are you going to believe, me or your own eyes?"
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Groucho Marx- "Last night I shot an elephant in my pajamas. How he got in my pajamas I'll never know."
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Diderot- "The best order of things, as I see it, is the one that includes me; to hell with the most perfect of worlds, if I'm not part of it."
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John McWhorter, Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue: The Untold History of Englishh "Did you ever notice that when you learn a foreign language, one of the first things you have to unlearn as an English speaker is the way we use do in questions and in negative statements? Take Did you ever notice . . . ? for example. Or I did not notice. We’re used to this do business, of course. But it’s kind of strange if you think about it. In this usage, do has no meaning whatsoever. It’s just there, but you have to use it. One cannot, speaking English, walk around saying things like Noticed you ever? or I not notice. English has something we will call meaningless do."
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Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft- "If you intend to write as truthfully as you can, your days as a member of polite society are numbered."
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Frederick Douglass- "You are not judged by the height you have risen, but by the depth you have climbed."
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Rodney Dangerfield:
My psychiatrist told me I was crazy and I said I want a second opinion. He said okay, you’re ugly too.
I had plenty of pimples as a kid. One day I fell asleep in the library. When I woke up, a blind man was reading my face.
I went to the hardware store to buy some rat poison. The cashier says ‘Do you want a bag, or are you gonna eat it here?’
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Final lines of My Dinner With Andre:
Wally: All the other customers seemed to have left hours ago. We got the bill, and André paid for our dinner! I treated myself to a taxi. I rode home through the city streets. There wasn't a street, there wasn't a building, that wasn't connected to some memory in my mind. There, I was buying a suit with my father. There, I was having an ice cream soda after school. When I finally came in, Debbie was home from work, and I told her everything about my dinner with Andre.
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