The DTs, Part 1

Image by Lisette Brodey from Pixabay

Politicians aren't known for their veracity. But Donald Trump isn't even on nodding terms with truth.

According to The Washington Post, Trump offered 30,573 false or misleading claims during his term as president. That's an average of about 21 lies a day. Who does anything 21 times a day? That shows a real commitment.

The numbers ballooned over time. In his first year in office, Trump averaged about six falsies a day, and 16 in his sophomore year. In year three he reached 22 claims a day, and in his final year, when he was desperately seeking re-election, he achieved the pinnacle of 39 lies a day.

I remember marveling at the time that all that lying didn't appear to cause profound internal dissonance. It seemed to me he was due for at least an ulcer. Or for random parts of his body just to fall off. 

I have to assume he has no conscience and so felt no dissonance. The untruths were merely a means to an end.

By the time Trump's fabrications had reached the stratosphere, he knew he could get away with it. His followers didn't care, the press had missed its chance to hold him accountable and Republican politicos had already gone remarkably deaf.

Now he's still at it, fibbing at a clip that would make Pinocchio jealous. Trump is such a fabricator that if he were suddenly to start telling the truth we'd see a mass fainting event from sea to shining sea.