Considering recent events, I suggest revisiting this essay, which I have rewritten multiple times over the past few years and have recently updated to reflect the current situation. Don’t say you weren’t warned.

I’m not naïve. The practice of lying in politics is as natural as ducks in water. If pushing an unpopular or dishonest agenda is necessary, then hell, it’s essential. I’m not accusing every politician of always telling half-truths or intentionally false statements.

Sometimes, people say things based on the information they have at the time, not realizing that the information they’re given is false or incomplete. The brave among them will later admit they misspoke or shouldn’t have spoken until they had complete information.

I might be willing to forgive them for that.

According to WordHippo.com, A Lie is defined as giving 
     To give false information intentionally with intent to deceive.
     To convey a false image or impression.
     To succeed or excel at lying; 
     lie successfully; 
     show one's expertise or mastery in the art of lying.
     To be mistaken or unintentionally spread false information.

However, we’ve all met that one person who has somehow turned the art of lying into a crusade against Truth, defined as facts, not opinions based on a distorted view of reality or a hidden agenda.

The goal is to weaken the principles of a progressive democracy so that it resembles a fascist state. 

See how simple that was.

Henry A. Giroux, in his book American Nightmare: Facing the Challenge of Fascism (published in 2018 by City Lights Bookstore, San Francisco), spoke to the advance toward fascism in the United States under the leadership of Donald J. Trump. One of the weapons used to create the chaotic conditions under which fascism thrives is the Lie.

“Trump’s constant use of lies, fears, belittlement, and humiliation wages war,” Giroux wrote, “on the ideals, values, and practices of a viable democracy.”

Giroux goes further in his analysis by recalling George Orwell’s 1984 writings.

“War is peace.
Freedom is slavery.
Ignorance is strength.”
― George Orwell, 1984

If you’ve read 1984, you’ll remember the famous Ministry of Truth, which produced slogans, Giroux reminds us, like “War Is Peace,” “Freedom Is Slavery,” and “Ignorance is Strength.”

Do you remember how, during the Trump presidential years, the words “Alternative facts” or, as Giroux explains, “…or what should be called more precisely outright lies…,’ described the terms as an updated version of what Orwell called ‘Doublethink’? 

That’s, the author elaborates, when “…people blindly accept contradictory ideas or allow truth to be subverted in the name of unquestioned common sense.” In the Trump world, there is only one Truth, and that is the garbage that comes out of his mouth and the mouths of his minions, cult followers, and, worse, people who know better but are in it for power despite Donald Trump.

The Washington Post headline was harsh: “Trump’s false or misleading claims total 30,573 over 4 years.” Eventually, we stopped paying attention to the number because it didn’t seem to matter to his followers or critics. 

The Lies were no longer the point. It was the effect of the Lie that mattered.

They serve as a shield against the Truth, fueling excitement, anger, loyalty, revenge, violence, and chaos. When the electorate falls for the strategy out of fear, ignorance, delusion, or denial, the Lie becomes a lifeboat from the Truth, verifiable facts that can be ignored with blinders or blindfolds. 

Again, Giroux in the 2018 American Nightmare:

“Trump’s more serious aim is to derail the architectural foundations of reason in order to construct a false reality and alternative political universe in which there are only competing fictions and the emotional appeal of shock theater.” Henry A. Giroux, American Nightmare: Facing the Challenge of Fascism

When Trump calls his enemies and even allies “losers” and “low I.Q. individuals,” he’s dehumanizing them, portraying them as less than human, The Others. In turn, his followers adopt the same view. Then, these followers can transfer that dehumanizing label into a reason why the others don’t matter, why they are irrelevant to their survival, and why they are incapable of serving their best interests because they don’t exist. 

This has been a winning strategy for Trump since his days in New York City. He doesn’t have to pay contractors, banks, or anyone because they don’t matter. His only loyalty is to himself because he is the only one that matters.

The Lie is the Truth. He is the Truth. Everyone else is just “fake news.”

“Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.”
― Aldous Huxley, Complete Essays, Vol. II: 1926-1929

Donald Trump told U.S. voters during the 2024 campaign that the country faced a choice between a nation out of control, overwhelmed by “illegals” and “criminals” and “radicals” and “leftists,” and his vision of America. 

The choice was clear to him and his followers. In their rush to “Make America Great Again” (meaning: revert to the American myth of supremacy), they used every deceitful tactic (Lie) to persuade voters that he is the only answer—another Lie.

Last year, I argued that the choice was between a Democratic-controlled House and Senate and a Trump presidency with a GOP-controlled Congress. The American voter has spoken, and now we see the results. Everything else would have to take second place.

The election was the difference between a chance to move forward toward progressive change or being stopped dead in our tracks with a future that resembles fascism, “unbridled anti-intellectualism, deception, and “vindictive chaos” (Giroux 23).

It was a time for brave action, a willingness to look beyond our political self-interests and commit to the future we always say we believe this nation can achieve. The principles we uphold are the foundation of that future.

We missed that opportunity. 

“Trump’s more serious aim is to derail the architectural foundations of reason in order to construct a false reality and alternative political universe in which there are only competing fictions and the emotional appeal of shock theater.” Henry A. Giroux, American Nightmare: Facing the Challenge of Fascism

We must live with the future of Donald J. Trump and the Lie, OR be prepared to do something about it.