Trumps lies corrode democracy

[Demovictory9]

But aside from volume, Trump’s lies differed significantly from those of previous presidents. Some of his most frequent lies are bragging about his achievements in ways that are demonstrably untrue and contrary to well-known and accepted facts. For example Trump claimed that he had his picture on the cover of Time Magazine more than any other person; that he signed more bills than any other president in his first six months in office; that the crowd at his inauguration was larger than Obama’s; that he had the largest number of electoral votes since Reagan. These lies undermine public confidence in President Trump and American government, increasing public cynicism. But these falsehoods, as bad as they are, are not as insidious as the repetition of false statements with important political and policy implications.

Whether consciously intended or not, Trump’s policy and political lies can have a significant impact on public opinion, particularly with those who are favorably disposed toward him. Systematic research in psychology and political science has demonstrated that once “misinformation” is initially encoded in a person’s mind, it is very difficult to change perceptions through credible corrections. In fact, attempted corrections often reinforce the initial misinformation.



***

Trump’s refusal to attempt to refute charges that he was telling falsehoods, admit their inaccuracy, or attempt to wiggle out of them by equivocating demonstrates either his lack of touch with reality or his conviction that he does not have to explain himself to others. Insistence on his false statements is an assertion of power. Lewis Carroll’s story, Through the Looking Glass, provides an insight about the relationship of words to power:

Humpty Dumpty: “When I use a word, it means just what I choose it to mean—neither more nor less.”

Alice: “The question is whether you can make words mean so many different things.”

Humpty Dumpty: “The question is which is to be master—that’s all.”

Trump expects others to accept his version of reality, and when they do not, he responds with ad hominem attacks and charges of “fake news.”

https://www.brookings.edu/blog/fixgov/2018/04/13/trumps-lies-corrode-democracy/

[duforsure]

1. The media repeating his lies

over and over again doesn't help. It serves his purpose.

[dalton99a]

2. Kick

[kentuck]

3. How are his tweets not obstruction of justice?

Is it because it is so blatantly obvious?

[VOX]

4. There is a war being waged over who gets to define reality.

The American political landscape is a massive trash-island of disinformation. People who expose themselves to this toxicity are walking around in a fog, shrouded by a fallout of lies, untruths and fearmongering.

45 & Co. do NOT have truth and facts on their side, but they do possess a mega-weapon: a 24-hour “news” outlet that coordinates and spits out 45’s hard-right-wing disinformation— daily, hourly. The Third Reich’s Joseph Goebbels would be absolutely chartreuse with envy at the opinion-swaying tools available to today’s anti-democracy despots.