The Triumph Of Lies Over Truth

 “The past was alterable. The past never had been altered. Oceania was at war with Eastasia. Oceania had always been at war with Eastasia.”

― George Orwell, 1984

The triumph of lies over truth within the Republican Party continued this week.

Donald Trump continues to promote the big lie that the 2020 Presidential election was stolen from him, that there was widespread fraud.

Lynn Cheney spoke the truth in response.  

“The 2020 presidential election was not stolen. Anyone who claims it was is spreading THE BIG LIE, turning their back on the rule of law, and poisoning our democratic system." 

The consequence for Cheney daring to speak the truth was to be voted out of her Congressional leadership position by her fellow Republicans and replaced with a woman who is more than happy and willing to echo Trump's lies about the election.

As if perpetuating Trump's never ending temper tantrum about the election isn't bad enough, the Republicans are taking a swing at the insurrection on January 6th.

Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-Ga.) : “Let me clear: There was no insurrection. And to call it an insurrection, in my opinion, is a bold-faced lie.”

Now you might think that you saw an insurrection on TV on January 6th. There's a ton of photos and videos as evidence of a violent assault on the Capitol by swarms of angry Trump supporters. 

Clyde says video of the day’s violence looked to him like “a normal tourist visit.”

Really? A normal tourist visit? 

This "normal tourist visit" resulted in Michael Fanone, a 19-year veteran of the D.C. Metropolitan police force, being dragged down stairs, beaten with pipes and shocked with stun guns multiple times by the Trump mob.

Er, excuse me: Trump tourists. 

This headlong rush away from the truth is being done in total fealty to a man who has done nothing good for the Republican Party.  

Donald Trump never won the popular vote in 2016 or 2020.

Donald Trump was never able to crack 50% approval by any major reputable pollster.

Under Donald Trump, Republicans lost control of the House in 2018 and the Senate in 2020. 

Under Donald Trump, the country suffered the greatest economic crash in over a century.

Under Donald Trump, half a million people died from the pandemic. 

And those are just some of the many ways that Trump has repeatedly proven to be, to use one of his favorite words, a loser. 

So why is the Republican Party so determined to make loyalty to Trump such a crucial litmus test even in defiance of easily verifiable truth? 

Because Trump continues to be what he always been to the Republican Party: a useful idiot. 

Trump's constant  braying about election fraud gives Republicans excellent cover to curtail voting rights in an effort to tamp down Democratic participation.  

The recent flurry of voter suppression laws that have come out from various Republican led state legislatures are doing so under cover of providing security and integrity to the voting process in answer to Trump's allegations of wide spread fraud.

Trump's lies are the alibi for Republicans to curtail Democratic gains in the voting booth. 

The Republican Party has sold itself out so much in the naked pursuit of power above all else, it can no longer rely on it's alleged conservative principles to sustain it.  They have no faith in whatever they are supposed to believe in so their chief weapon is to demonize Democrats and to yell foul about election fraud. 

And Trump, idiot that he is, provides the cheering section they need to pursue that agenda.  

And this is why there is a war on truth and why lies are winning in the Republican Party.

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