What's in a name, a lie by any other name...

Donald Trump called Ted Cruz the biggest liar he has ever seen.  Apparently Donald has not looked in the mirror lately.  Truth, especially on the Republican side, is in scarce supply. 

 

Much to the annoyance of my Conservative friends, I have an annoying habit of checking PolitiFact.  Recently I pointed out that Donald Trump has told so many “pants on fire” (the most blatant) lies PolitiFact could not single out one for the title 2015 Lie of the Year so they bestowed that dubious honor on the sum of all his lies.  Those Conservative friends, of course, huffed indignantly and blew it off with “Well PolitiFact is not always reliable.”  For Republicans, truth is arbitrary, optional and relative to what they want to believe.

We all know that every politicians lies to some extent.  Yes, even Hillary and Bernie have told some whoppers, but compared to the two Republican front runners, the Dems are rank amateurs.  You can go to PolitiFact.com and see for yourselves.

I find Cruz’s and Rubio’s lies much more problematical and dangerous than Trump’s.  Most of Trump’s lies are so bombastic and outlandish that they are swallowed only by the bottom of the far-right brainless barrel.  Things like, he saw thousands of Muslims cheering the fall of the Twin Towers, or unemployment is probably, 28, 29 as high as 35 “in fact I even heard recently 42 percent,” and his tweet that crime statistics show blacks kill 82 percent of white homicide victims.  These are blatantly intended to stir up fear, hatred, bigotry and racism, and, unfortunately, work very well in whipping up his white, male uneducated base.

But Cruz, and also Rubio, tell their lies so well, with such a straight face, feigning sincerity and authority, that they can deceive even some relatively rational, Republicans.  In other words, they make the lies sound plausible enough that more educated Republicans find them credible.  That’s the dangerous part, they are such skillful liars that Republicans do not question them.

For example, in their never-ending battle to kill Obamacare, Republicans will believe anything they’re told, like Cruz’s statement “Obamacare is the biggest job-killer in this country—millions of Americans have lost their jobs, have been forced into part-time work.” That is totally untrue, i.e. a “pants on fire” lie. But because he says it with such feigned authority, Republicans believe it because that’s what they want to hear.  And once the lie is told, it sticks in their minds and there is no way you can convince them it is not true.

Rubio told Meet the Press that Iran released the hostages two days after Reagan’s inauguration “because Iran perceived America was no longer under the command of someone weak (a not very veiled reference to Obama).”  Another “pants on fire” lie.  You can look it up.

Most recently, referring to appointing a replacement for Justice Scalia, Cruz stated at the Greenville, SC, debate and repeated on Meet the Press that “We have 80 years of precedent of not confirming Supreme Court justices in an election year.”   There is no “long tradition” of presidential passivity or Congressional obstruction.  It is simply rare for a justice to leave the court voluntarily or involuntarily--like Scalia--during an election year.  When it has happened, the president promptly nominated a replacement.

In this election year, Republicans are highly susceptible that old political truism, if you tell a big lie over and over again, people will believe it.