Liar?

Trump haters have one consistent mantra, “He lies, then lies about his lies.” They even document and count up these falsehoods into the tens of thousands. Pathological maybe?

How come, given this tidal wave of mendacity, I can’t recall a single “you can keep your doctor” moment? In a recent presser, Trump claimed that the mortality rate of the seasonal flu was “point zero one percent” (0.01%). Actually, the number is 0.1%. Was that a lie? Obviously not even though I strongly suspect it is number 16,743 on the Washington Post tally, I’m also reasonably sure that Trump knows the real facts about seasonal flu mortality. He just misstated things.

When Trump addresses the American people, he elides the facts, he blusters, he quotes disputed data, he makes mistakes, he even zings his enemies  ... but I have yet to detect downright malicious lies by the Orangeman.

If you have, dear reader, please cull through Washington Post’s compendium of Trump falsehoods and relate back to us one of his super duper whoppers.

Shades of Shading

Some WaPo pajama boy has spent months documenting Trump's 3,000 "lies" ... see: Washington Post Story. Now there are lies and there are lies ... and it is best to differentiate between these shades of such shading. Below is my way of placing a metric (low to high -- 1) Shading the truth ... 2) Misleading  ... 3) Spinning ... 4) Exaggerating ... 5) Accentuating the negative ... 6) Fibbing ...  7)White lying ... 8) Prevaricating ... 9) Lying ...  19) Being mendacious ...  11) Telling whoppers)  on such mendacity ... and this author's take on where prominent "liars" lie on this lying spectrum.

My approximate positioning of this group is as follows:

Fox News -- 1.5

Mitch McConnell -- 2.5

Trump -- 4.0

Nancy Pelosi -- 4.5

MSNBC -- 5.0

Main-stream media -- 7.5

Chuck Schumer -- 8.0

Bill Clinton -- 8.5

Barack Obama -- 10,0

CNN -- 10.5

Hillary Clinton -- 11.5


Now, if this isn't taking a stilk to a hornets nest, I don't know what is?

Whopper

In the Las Vegas presidential debate last night a question was asked about how the two candidates would grow the U.S. economy. In the ensuing give and take the following whopper caught my ear:

"I will not add a penny to our national debt" -- Hillary Clinton (thrice said)

Clearly, if this woman can make this impossible claim ... it is difficult to place a scintilla of credence in any of her other campaign promises.

A Gift

When asked, before he became President by a fellow U.S. Senator, why he spoke so well from a Teleprompter, Barack Obama replied, “It’s a gift.”  Yes, when reading someone else’s words, Obama was a savant. And he has gotten even better during his years in the White House – his staccato timing, his head bobs, his look-aways, his pursed lips, his pregnant pauses, his upraised chin, his cool demeanor, his well-timed hand gestures – all combine to make him a very convincing seller of his ghostwriter’s words.  His delivery is so special that, even after telling whopper after whopper (witness the recent revelations of all those Obamacare lies), much of the American public keeps nodding in sympathy with his next questionable pronouncement.  (I heard one wag on the radio today say that his Teleprompter needs to be replaced by a lie detector.)

Here is a taste of Obama’s gift for Teleprompter gab? See: YouTube video.

Afterward: The White House talking points which are being repeated in the main-stream media echo chamber say that, although millions of individuals are now losing their healthcare insurance, corporate plans are not affected under Obamacare.  Has everyone forgotten that the corporate mandate has recently been postponed by Obama for one year?  Is this just another fib in the fabric of fibs surrounding Obamacare?

Whopper

I'm sorry in advance for the length of this blog post … but unfortunately it seems to be required.  Monday night’s Presidential debate had the following exchange between the candidates:

Mitt Romney – “The president in his campaign some four years ago said he'd meet with all the world's worst actors in his first year. He'd sit down with Chavez and Kim Jong-il, with Castro and with president Ahmadinejad of Iran. I think they looked and thought, ‘Well, that's an unusual honor to receive from the president of the United States.’ And then the president began what I have called an apology tour, of going to various nations in the Middle East and criticizing America. I think they looked at that and saw weakness.”

President Obama – “Nothing, uh, Governor Romney just said is true, starting with this notion of me apologizing. This has been, uhh, probably the biggest whopper that's been told during the course of this campaign. And every fact-checker and every reporter has looked at it, Governor, has said this is not true.” (Italics mine.)

Now here are actual news stories (shortly after his inauguration) indicating whom Obama was willing to (or did) meet with:

Ahmadinejad: Telegraph Story 

Kim Jong-il: CFR Story 

Castro: Politico Story 

Chavez: The Daily Beast Story 

I have also found these following quotes from Obama ... apologizing for his country (shortly after his inauguration) on the Rush Limbaugh’s website (see: Rush Limbaugh Site).

In Strasbourg, France (4/3/2009): “In America, there's a failure to appreciate Europe's leading role in the world. Instead of celebrating your dynamic union and seeking to partner with you to meet common challenges, there have been times where America's shown arrogance and been dismissive, even derisive.”

In Mexico City, Mexico (04/17/09): “I will not pretend that this is Mexico's responsibility alone. A demand for these drugs in the United States is what is helping to keep these cartels in business. This war is being waged with guns purchased not here, but in the United States. More than 90% of the guns recovered in Mexico come from the United States, many from gun shops that line our shared border. So we have responsibilities as well. We have to do our part.”  (A Fast and Furious set-up?)

Three quotes in Cairo, Egypt (06/04/2009): “Iraq was a war of choice that provoked strong differences in my country and around the world. 9/11 was an enormous trauma to our country. The fear and anger that it provoked was understandable, but in some cases it led us to act contrary to our traditions and our ideals. We are taking concrete actions to change course. I have unequivocally prohibited the use of torture by the United States, and I have ordered the prison at Guantanamo Bay closed by early next year.”

“In the middle of the Cold War, the United States played a role in the overthrow of a democratically elected Iranian government. I understand those who protest that some countries have weapons that others do not. No single nation should pick and choose which nation holds nuclear weapons. And that's why I strongly reaffirmed America's commitment to seek a world in which no nations hold nuclear weapons.”

“There's been controversy about the promotion of democracy in recent years, and much of this controversy is connected to the war in Iraq. So let me be clear: No system of government can or should be imposed by one nation on any other.”


And I can not neglect to note the spate of Obama’s bowing to foreign leaders … in China, in Saudi Arabia, in Japan, in India, and in Mexico … see: Google Images.


Now, after all this evidence, was not Obama the one who was telling the most gigantic of whoppers?