In over 8-plus years of these radio commentaries I have been generous with the Robert Louis Stevenson quote about honesty. He wrote, “To tell the truth, rightly understood, is not just to state the true facts, but to convey a true impression.”
Throughout the 2016 presidential campaign, President-elect Donald Trump was fond of calling his opponents names such as “Lyin Ted” and “Little Marco” and especially “Corrupt Hillary.” In fact, during one speech, Trump referred to Hillary Clinton as a “dirty rotten liar.” Hillary was deemed corrupt largely because she was deemed a pathological liar. Voters, ultimately, didn’t trust her. But interestingly, neither did they trust Trump. And now, post-election, we can see why Trump was so mistrusted.
Trump famously stated during the first Republican primary debate that he would not pledge to support the eventual nominee. Just a month later he made the pledge only to renege on it a few weeks later. He also famously called for a wall to be built on our southern boarder and insisted Mexico would pay for it. He has since walked back that promise. He called that promise a great “campaign device.” Trump has fudged on his promise to ban Muslims from this country. He now says it may or may not happen. His promise to repeal and replace Obamacare remains intact as long as we keep the “more popular parts” – like the parts that make it uniquely Obamacare.
During one debate with Mrs. Clinton, Trump looked her square in the eye and promised to investigate her for use of her private email server. Today, he says, not so much. “I don’t want to hurt the Clintons,” he says. All of the sudden America needs less divisiveness. During a rally last June, Trump was adamant in his support of waterboarding. Today, he isn’t so keen on it. Once calling climate change a Chinese-backed hoax, he now says he has an open mind about it. Last February Trump pledged to “open up our libel laws” so he could sue the press for their lies about him. Today, he’s not so keen on the idea saying, incredibly, that he worries that he might get sued were libel laws loosened.
All throughout the campaign Trump sympathizers in the Republican ranks insisted that he didn’t really mean the things he was saying. And, now with some hindsight, these same Republican lapdogs claim they were right – Trump has walked back every controversial thing he’s said and his choice of appointments should prove to everyone that President-elect Trump really isn’t the same man as candidate Trump. After all, he had to say those outrageous things to get attention and win the nomination. In other words, his end justified his means.
So let’s step back and examine that thinking.
Clearly many of his hard-core supporters played with a bit of cognitive dissonance in their hatred of Hillary Clinton and support of Trump. If Hillary was a pathological liar, what does that make Trump, who now has reneged on nearly every campaign promise that motivated people to vote for him? Are Hillary’s lies to be condemned and Trump’s lies to be ignored? Do we now seal judgment against Hillary’s lies because she was the loser and look past Trump’s lies because he won?
There is something unseemly about Republicans who saw Trump for what he is and still held their nose to vote for him and who now have become his defenders and apologists – that “something” is way more disturbing than the crazies who actually believed his campaign nonsense. In the same breath, we should not look past Republicans who feigned to hate Trump only to rejoice in the spoils of political war. For instance, with all due respect, Mitt Romney should be ashamed of himself for groveling at Trump’s feet. Ironically, that’s one promise Trump has kept: To make Mitt kneel before him.
Many politicos justify so much treachery and lies in politics as the result of justifiable gaming ethics – kind of an “all is fair in love and war” approach to politics. For me, this thinking is a dividing line between people of integrity or not. I understand political strategies. I get not giving away those strategies to your opponents. But lying is lying be it from the mouth of Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump. Trump is a liar and everyone who now defends him, even celebrates his newfound maturity to walk back obviously absurd campaign promises, are liars too.
His die-hard supporters will wake up at some point. His reluctant supporters will one day question the trust they now anxiously but pathetically place in him. Critics, like me, will tell you “I told you so.” But mostly, freedom is the big loser. If the President-elect can say anything to close a deal and then renege on the deal once made, our freedom is in jeopardy.
I’m Paul Mero. Thanks for listening.
