Casual Observation

8 Comments

1. 

   donnah on July 5, 2017 at 7:50 am

   I got to April and realized it was only going to get worse.

   I’d say run this on every news outlet, but Dems like us would either squawk with rage or shake our heads in resignation. The average Republican would say stop posting fake data, and true Trumpians would cheer, because the lies are just Trump’s way of getting under the Dems’ skin.

   Same shit, every day.

2. 

   MikeInOhio on July 5, 2017 at 8:46 am

   His base doesn’t believe that he lies.

   Congressional Republicans don’t care that he lies, as long as it doesn’t impede their ability to destroy the social safety net, enact voter suppression laws, limit the rights of minority populations, enact tax cuts for the wealthy, and remove those horrible shackles of regulation from the loins of the beleagured corporations.

   For Democrats, it’s just catnip.  

   Yes, it matters greatly that he lies in a perpetual way. It is his default mode. But his supporters will never make the connection between his lies and anything detrimental which occurs in the country or in the world. They are simply viewing these lies through such a heavily tinted lens that it is impossible for them to discern their impact or their relevance.

   • 

     euzoius on July 5, 2017 at 10:48 am

     Promiscuous Presidential Lying is simply the natural and expected endpoint of the “conservative” movement.  Reality is optional, and has been for quite some time now.

     People forget that RMoney was the greatest lying prez candidate in history, circa 2012. There was no counter-reaction from either the Repub party, its voters or the media—instead there was a doubling-down. So Der Trumper is just the next logical iteration of a party and movement built on lies, although Trumper has the added feature of obvious mental derangement. But so did his great predecessor, haha.

     This can only end in Gotterdammerung, which Trumpites are vociferously cheering on.  Get ready to hear a lot about the crazed nuclear regime of North Korea—“a dagger pointed at the heart of Germa…er, America!”

     Thanks, Cheney! The grandfather of Der Trumper, although he contests paternity…

     • 

       marduk on July 5, 2017 at 11:47 am

       Pretty sure “trickle down” theory was patient zero for the “lie about everything” style of Republican politics.

       • 

         esquimaux on July 5, 2017 at 12:23 pm

         what about “I am not a crook”?

       • 

         euzoius on July 5, 2017 at 1:14 pm

         My comment about Cheney was a reference to his gratuitous inclusion of NK into the infamous “axis of evil” speech, the (nuclear) fruit of which we are now watching today. So it was somewhat misleading, sorry.

         But it seems to me that the lies of the “conservative” movement have simply built and built and built over time. Lies pile up upon lies, creating a fabulous edifice of shit. Their lying is exponentially cumulative at this point (Version 2016) and simply embraces every topic under the sun. What policy problem/issue do they NOT shamelessly lie about?

         So “cutting taxes raises revenue!” may have been patient zero in the days of St Reagan, I’m not sure. Indeed, it is just possible that the scheme was thought to have some economic validity in 1980. The results, of course, were soon very clear: runaway Reagan deficits as far as the eye could see–which even Greenspan had to caution against by 1992, as I recall. Those were the days, haha!

         Once implementation proved that (in fact) “cutting taxes reduces revenue!”, maintaining the (now doctrinal) “conservative” position without modification in the following decades clearly constituted intentional, egregious political lying–for which there has been no accountability whatsoever. And because of that, “conservatives” now lie about everything under the sun. And we are still seeking an effective remedy.

         One thing is clear: the “Marketplace of Ideas” model has abjectly failed.

         • 

           marduk on July 5, 2017 at 1:40 pm

           I know trickle down economics is most closely associated with Reagan but when I mean patient zero I really mean patient zero:

           There are two ideas of government. There are those who believe that if you just legislate to make the well-to-do prosperous, that their prosperity will leak through on those below. The Democratic idea has been that if you legislate to make the masses prosperous their prosperity will find its way up and through every class that rests upon it. –William Jennings Bryan, 1896

           This election was lost four and six years ago, not this year. They [Republicans] didn’t start thinking of the old common fellow till just as they started out on the election tour. The money was all appropriated for the top in the hopes that it would trickle down to the needy. Mr. Hoover was an engineer. He knew that water trickles down. Put it uphill and let it go and it will reach the driest little spot. But he didn’t know that money trickled up. Give it to the people at the bottom and the people at the top will have it before night, anyhow. But it will at least have passed through the poor fellows hands. They saved the big banks, but the little ones went up the flue. –Will Rogers, 1932

3. 

   TarheelDem on July 5, 2017 at 10:31 am

   Your actually attempting it shows signs of self-depressing behavior.

   Getting almost a month end shows unnecessary determination.

   Proctoring Congress while they are forced to read this material would be a better use of time if ever it could be arranged.

   Above and beyond your readers’ requirements.