From Pine View Farm

Republican Lies category archive

Twits on Twitter 0

Donald Trump standing in front of portraits of Presidents Obama and Coolidge tweeting,


Click for the original image.

And yet more twits.

You do realize, natch, that this behavior is somewhat outside of the norm.

Share

Playing Taps 0

Via RawStory.

Share

Multiplication of Mendacity 0

Paul Krugman notes that the era of spin is over, replaced by the era of outright lies. A snippet:

No president, or for that matter major U.S. political figure of any kind, has ever lied as freely and frequently as Donald Trump. But this isn’t just a Trump story. His ability to get away with it, at least so far, requires the support of many enablers: almost all of his party’s elected officials, a large bloc of voters and, all too often, much of the news media.

(snip)

The moral vacuity of Republicans in Congress, and the unlikelihood that they’ll act as any check on the president, becomes clearer with each passing day. Even the real possibility that we’re facing subversion by agents of a foreign power, and that top officials are part of the story, doesn’t seem to faze them as long as they can get tax cuts for the rich and benefit cuts for the poor.

Follow the link for the rest.

Share

Alt-Memorial 0

Man looking at a statue labeled


Click for the original image.

Share

The Russian Sessions, Reprise 0

Via C&L.

Share

The Russian Sessions 0

Excerpt:

The ambassador from Russia is a Russian.

(I composed the above yesterday. Since then, there has been a development.)

Via C&L.

Share

Republicans Rebrand Repression: “It’s All Good” 0

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.

Share

The Voter Fraud Fraud 0

The fox is in the henhouse.

Share

The Dearly Deported 0

Man and woman watching television as Donald Trump says,


Click for the original image.

Share

The Voter Fraud Fraud, Bait-and-Switch Dept. 0

At Psychology Today Blogs, Roy Eidelson exposes the con. A nugget:

In short, complaints of rampant voter fraud are really just an elaborate cover story, constructed to hide repugnant attempts to gain electoral advantage by disenfranchising Americans. Paul Weyrich, for decades a leading voice of the conservative movement, indirectly acknowledged as much almost fifty years ago. In a speech in Texas back in 1980, he explained, “I don’t want everybody to vote. …Our leverage in the elections, quite candidly, goes up as the voting populace goes down.” That master plan hasn’t changed in the intervening years.

Read the rest.

Share

All the News that Fits 0

Facts never survive the Reince cycle.

Share

Bubble Boy in Alt Land, Reprise 0

Warning: Language.

Share

Decoding de Code: Logic Is Irrelevant 0

Share

Spin Cycle 0

An ex-corporate spin-meister discusses how “spin” differs from “lies” and marvels at the multiplication of mendacity. A couple of nuggets (emphasis added):

Let’s say for the sake of argument one year when I was in the corporate world our company posted a strong year in Sales (up 30 percent) but not so strong a year in Assets Under Management (up 1 percent). In our various financial communications we’d naturally emphasize the Sales results and focus less on the Assets results. That’s just spinning. It’s OK. It’s sound management. Everyone in business does it. You’re always building your brand. You’re marketing. You’re trying to put your best foot forward. Why wouldn’t you?

But let’s say that beyond emphasizing just one figure and de-emphasizing another, to try to “help” our company I decided to unilaterally claim that Assets Under Management were up 10 percent, not 1 percent. That’s not spinning. That’s lying. You can’t do that. At least not for long. . . .

Today lying has been elevated to a renegade art form. We call it Fake News. (I’d rather call it Real Lying.) In a year of troubling trends, no trend is more troubling to me than the everyday casualness with which folks in power, or seeking power, ignore facts or make up their own when real facts don’t suit their needs.

Share

One Thing Is Not Like the Other Thing 0

Title:  More


Click for the original image.

In related news, Solomon Jones finds inspiration in an unlikely place (follow the link for the complete article):

Trump and his staffers must be made to understand that “alternative facts” are lies. And every time our new president or one of his representatives dips into his or her bag of untruths, someone on the other side must channel their inner Joe Wilson.

They must stand up, red-faced and outraged, and shout that now-infamous phrase.

“You lie!”

Share

The Mechanics of Mendacity 0

Share

Twits on Twitter 0

Disappearing twits.

The Trumpling of truth marches apace.

Read more »

Share

Press Conference 0

Trump press secretary reading list of


Click for the original image.

Tony Norman has more. Here’s a snippet from his article:

Just as Orwell warned us, contempt for objective truth encourages a dependence on euphemisms. This, in turn, debases all political discourse. Still, the brazenness of Ms. Conway’s appeal to “alternative facts” was breathtaking in its utter capitulation to cynicism. It enraged every journalist who heard it and it should’ve enraged every citizen, too, but most Americans are too busy going about their lives to give much thought to the lies of the president’s spokespeople.

This indifference is what the Trump administration is counting on. The multiple daily outrages via Twitter, or at a White House briefing, or in a dark presidential speech or uttered on a Sunday talk show will quickly consume the public’s finite allotment of outrage. This can only lead to more indifference and a glassy-eyed boredom that will not serve us well when long-term assaults against every one of our democratic institutions begin in earnest.

Share

The Voter Fraud Fraud: the Payoff 0

Share

Lies and Lying Liars 0

The Charlotte Observer skewers the non-apology apology of a Republican operative who authored a “fake news” story.

The San Francisco Chronicle has more on this particular faker.

(What’s unusual about this is that the faker got his comeuppance. Wonder if he’ll get picked up by Fox News?)

Share