Evidently the major requirement to be “in” with the republican party these days is the ability to LIE!  I mean, even (most of) those who support Donald Trump have to be coming to the realization if his lips are moving, he’s LYING.  With Trump it appears to be pathological.  Then there’s Kellyanne Conway.  I’ve said a few times here that the only person I’ve seen better at LYING than her is her boss.  Yes, there are those who call it “spin,” but the reality is they are LYING – about almost EVERYTHING.  Michael Flynn is no longer the National Security Advisor (each day it becomes more problematic as to how he got that job in the first place) ostensibly because of LYING.  Personally, I believe there’s much more to why Flynn was fired, but that’s a story for another day.

Jeff Sessions is no longer leading the “investigation” into Russia’s involvement in the Trump campaign and the 2016 election because of, what else, LYING.  He LIED to a Senate committee that was going through his confirmation process.  The interesting part of this is that Sessions volunteered the LIE despite the fact he was answering an unasked question.  (Not really that smart)  Also, Sessions LIED in a written response to an inquiry given to him by that same Senate committee – and, if there was nothing to all the Russia stuff, you’d think he would have just told the truth.  In Washington DC, apparently, Lying is so “normal” that Sessions is still the Attorney General – supposedly, the lead person in enforcing our laws – despite perjuring himself to Congress.  I still remember Alberto Gonzales doing this multiple times during the GW Bush years and “getting away with it,” so either it’s OK for the Attorney General to LIE to Congress or people are too busy arguing about other stuff to even care about this.

Then there’s Vice President Mike Pense – the person who’s apparently so sensitive to being LIED to that General Flynn had to go after LYING to Pense about his conversation with the Russian ambassador – namely, that he did “talk about sanctions” in the conversation.  Of course, anyone with any common sense could (and probably had) figure this out on their own.  Here’s the scenario – President Obama levied sanctions on the Russians for intruding in our election which included kicking something like 30 or more Russian “diplomats” (spies?) from the country and closing one of their “play areas” around Washington DC.  Naturally, the normal Russian response would be to kick a like number of American “diplomats” out of Moscow as part of a “tit for tat.”  However, THE SAME DAY Obama levied the sanctions Flynn had his conversation with the Russian “ambassador” (spy) and surprise, surprise – no retribution from Vladimir Putin.  He claimed to be “above” this childish behavior.  (Seriously, that one wasn’t hard to figure out, even for a 6th grade teacher)  Do you wonder what promises Flynn made to the Russians? (who, by the way, had employed him – probably illegally from Flynn’s perspective – after President Obama fired him for what some might call insubordination)

The lesson Trump and his “camp” wanted to portray from the “decisive” action of firing Flynn, evidently, was that you can’t get away with LYING to our Vice President.  Of course, Trump – and presumably Pense – knew what Flynn had done well before he was fired.  In fact, I believe Trump (and Pense) knew about Flynn’s meeting with the Russian “ambassador” and knew what was discussed at the time of the meeting.  I don’t believe Flynn took it upon himself to go bring this up out of thin air.  However, even Trump made a big deal in his famous 77 minute “news” conference to why Flynn was fired – despite, even at that time we all knew that the former acting Attorney General (the one Trump fired because she told Trump his “Muslim ban” was not defensible in court) Sally Yates had warned Trump and his associates almost three weeks earlier about Flynn’s vulnerability regarding his actions with the Russians.  Yates, at the time, interpreted whatever information she got as meaning that Flynn was a potential blackmail target of the Russians.  So, what this means is that Trump was LYING when he explained why Flynn was fired.

And, speaking of Pense – the person in Trump’s “inner circle” who I believe is the most “acceptable” to the actual “conservatives” in the republican caucus in Congress – well, evidently he doesn’t like being “LIED” to, but he’s got his own issues.  For starters, as stated above, I don’t believe Pense was unaware of Flynn’s meeting with the Russian ambassador (spy) so, when Pense, on the Sunday news shows  told the country unequivocally that Flynn had not talked about sanctions with the ambassador it was actually Pense doing the LYING.  Why do I think that you might ask?  Well, as we later learned, Flynn was acting as a “foreign agent” during the campaign which Pense also LIED about at least twice – suggesting he had no idea about that FACT until he heard it in a TV interview – responding by saying “this confirms Trump’s decision to fire Flynn.”  However, Flynn’s attorney had already published documents SHOWING that Flynn had told the transition committee – headed by guess who? Mike Pense – that he may need to register as a foreign agent because he was lobbying for Turkey (the country) during the campaign.  Pense knew about this months before DENYING it on, again, national TV.

I’ve got to throw in Sean Spicer here.  In a way, I feel sorry for him.  I don’t get the impression he’s a LIAR like those he’s surrounded by – it’s just that he’s a loyal employee who’s being forced to LIE if he wants to keep his job.  I can’t imagine being in that situation and lasting very long.  Somehow, I feel – if I’m correct about him – that he’ll have a short “shelf life.” (Depending on how long republicans put up with Trump.)  It’s apparent that Spicer is struggling with the LYING and he’s pretty awkward as he does it.  A good example of what he has to do came up a day or two ago when, right before a press briefing, the two Senators leading the Senate Intelligence Committee – with access to classified information – announced that Trump was LYING when he accused President Obama of “wiretapping” him. (the only reason I put it in quotes was because of how Spicer is “spinning” Trump’s own words – I hope you “get it”)  The briefing was held up for over an hour – obviously so Spicer could be coached on how to LIE about what the Senators just said – and, of course, he had to LIE about why the briefing was held up (someone was on the phone).  I really want to read Spicer’s book that will come out shortly after he resigns!

I could go on and on, but my hands are getting tired – but, I’ll add one more;  Paul Ryan.  He’s trying to cram a phony “health care bill” through the House without people knowing what “hit them.”  He was pushing hard to get the bill through the House prior to the OMB “scoring” the bill to clarify the details – like how many  people would gain/lose health insurance benefits, the cost/savings, etc.  I heard Ryan in an interview being questioned about Trump’s promise that “every American would have access to ‘affordable health insurance'” and guess what he was doing?  You’re absolutely correct, he was LYING.  On the day when the OMB (Office of Management and Budget) said 14 MILLION would lose coverage in the first year and up to 24 MILLION after around another 5 – 7 years Ryan said, “Every American will have access to health care” from their bill.  He exclaimed that the OMB results were better than he anticipated.  Now, I call that LYING – It seems almost of the pathological nature.  I’m sure Ryan has his own explanation for it, but I’ll let you figure that out.  I’m guessing he would say that everyone will have “access” (while silently, in his mind, adding – “If they have the money to pay the exorbitant premiums” that have caused the health care crisis in the first place – which is why MILLIONS never had health insurance until “Obamacare”)

I took a break, so my hands feel better – so, lets talk about Mitch McConnell.  This man is absolutely the cleverest LIAR I believe I’ve ever seen.  He’s the best!  He’s got that southern drawl that almost puts you asleep as you listen to him and what comes out of his mouth seems so believable, UNTIL you cross check his comments with either facts or his own words previously spoken.  For example, he seems so genuine as he deplores democrats to get on board with all his republican initiatives and laments how terrible it would be to obstruct.  Yes, McConnell actually does this – the very same man who filibustered President Obama something approaching 700 times.   I’m sure in private he would justify his actions because, well, maybe he believed the birthers – or who knows what – but, he publicly made it his mission and that of his party that President Obama would fail.  That’s all “water under the bridge” now – and, he’s deploring democrats to join him in “bipartisanship.”  (Unfortunately, I believe many democrats are spineless enough to fall for his antics)  McConnell could teach a class at a high level university on how to use words to make it sound like you’re saying one thing by really saying something completely different.  I suppose most would call him the “spin” master – to me, it’s just another form of LYING – which, as I stated at the beginning of this post – must be a requirement to be one of today’s republicans.

If it wasn’t so serious it would be comical listening to one republican member of the House after another coming on cable TV and defending their “health care” proposal that is being billed as the “repeal and replacement of Obamacare” all the while revealing their latest required LYING points.  They can’t defend that “plan” in a way that doesn’t guarantee their defeat in 2018 (for most of them) without LYING. (they’ve been “coached” to ALL use the same keywords in their LYING – a key proponent of the “Big Lie Theory”) It seems to be routine and the commentators leave it to “we the people” to figure this out.  One commentator the other day (Chris Matthews) actually said, “I hate to use the word Lie.”  They all know what’s happening, yet on and on it goes.  Now, I know my friend who’s a Trump supporter will be saying, “But the democrats………” as a way to justify all this.  Let me just add that I in no way would be OK with Trump’s LIES, his surrogates’ LIES, or those others mentioned here if the rationale was, “but the democrats.”

Personally, I believe we all lie to some degree in the course of our lives – but, the magnitude here is far beyond anything I’ve seen – including Nixon and Watergate.  Yes, politicians “spin” things to suit their purposes and/or position, but pathological LYING is another matter.  As many “experts” have already pointed out, Trump’s LYING and the LYING of those close to him creates a TRUST issue that is likely to be dangerous in a time of crisis.  Already there are many like me who don’t believe a word that comes from his mouth (or those of his closest advisers).  That’s not such a major problem, but when it spreads to leaders around the world, it becomes more than a major problem.  And, guess who will be the ultimate benefactor of all this if republicans allow it to continue?  Yes, you’re correct again – it will be Vladimir Putin.  I’ve said this before, the Russian hacking of our election has produced “fruit” that I’m sure is beyond Putin’s wildest dreams.  (And republicans in Congress will continue to ignore that reality as long as they believe they can push their “conservative agenda” past the democrats)  This is NOT good!

Final note:  I’ve explained what the “Big Lie Theory” is here many times.  If you’re not sure, look it up – it was the work of Joseph Goebbels back in the 1930’s and, I believe, a conscious part of outlets like Fox “news” for years.  That “theory” is based on coached and orchestrated LYING – that if you repeat a lie often enough people will believe it’s true.  There’s a difference when someone LIES about virtually everything.  When they’re so used to LYING that they believe their own LIES as they are making them – it’s routine.  That’s pathological LYING and, what I believe we are dealing with as I/we observe the words and actions of our 45th president and those around him.