When logic and proportion; Have fallen sloppy dead (White Rabbit—Jefferson Airplane)

 When logic and proportion; Have fallen sloppy dead (White Rabbit—Jefferson Airplane)

In an era of information overload and rapid communication, the line between truth and falsehood has become increasingly blurred. What begins as a lie—whether born from malice, intentional deception, or manipulation—can, with time and repetition, evolve into accepted "truth." When lies are accepted as truth, it becomes difficult to distinguish right from wrong. This confusion is intentional, making falsehoods easier to accept and people more susceptible to manipulation. When reality blurs with fiction, individuals are more likely to accept even the implausible, a core tactic of deception.

Unquestioning acceptance leads to dependency on others who may not have your best interests in mind. Deception works when you trust the source, especially if they offer what you want to hear. This increases the chance you'll believe their next claim. As Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels infamously noted, “If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it.” When repetition replaces evidence, and emotion outweighs reason, truth becomes malleable—open to distortion by those in power.

If Donald Trump had been a fisherman, his fish tales would have been among the best. Sadly, he is our president, for the second time. He is good at what he does. He is the Artful Dodger of Dickens fame. While the Jack Dawkins character in Oliver Twist was a child acting like an adult, the president is an adult acting like a child. In that child-like mindset, sexual proclivities aside, he is a spoiled brat who will throw a tantrum if he doesn’t get his way. He is spiteful and carries a grudge. The term Artful Dodger has become synonmous with anyone engaging in skillful deception.

Donald Trump has perfected the artform alluded to by Goebbles and immortalized by Dickens. He tells his whoppers in the open where the media often catch him in his deceipt. This is sometimes done with video where his contradictions are easily refuted—othertimes with factual documentation. His followers accept these lies often labeling the contradictory evidence as “fake news” or with the excuse, “he was only kiddiing.”

In a recent example of factual distortion, he fired Erika McEntarfer, the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, when she presented him with facts he didn’t like. It was Earl Landgrebe during the Nixon Watergate hearings who famously said, "Don't confuse me with the facts, my mind's made up." Ms. McEntarfer learned that you never tell the emperor that he has no clothes.

The phrase, “don’t shoot the messenger” is traceable back 2,000 years to the collection of plays, “Parallel Lives” by Plutarch, a Greek biographer. In “Lives” there is a King Tigranes who is displeased with news of an advancing army and he has the messenger’s head cut off. After that, no man dared to bring him bad news.

If we ignore the political side of the current president and just consider him as a human being, there are disturbing things about his personality that should give everyone pause. The continuing pronouncement of easily disputable information which we collectively refer to as “misinformation,” is a sign of a person with a serious problem. When he makes such mistakes and is presented with clear and consice facts, his doubling down on the misinformation to fit some desired narrative would be considered a major character flaw in anyone. Whatever you think of his politics or decision making, he is a seriously flawed individual.

The risks associated with misinformation extend beyond the initial spread of falsehoods to include their enduring consequences. When inaccuracies are widely accepted as truth, they may legitimize detrimental policies, contribute to prejudice, and suppress opposition. Such developments can also hinder scientific progress, diminish public confidence in institutions, and disrupt the common understanding essential for us to function as a society.

King Tigrane soon learned that his emotional response to unwanted information had consequences. King Trump may learn this lesson the hard way at our expense. The truth is not always convenient or readily accepted, but its absence can result in a situation where factual accuracy is replaced by fiction, and freedom is no longer assured.