Public figures have always lied.
According to Parson Weems, George Washington said, “I cannot tell a lie.” That was a lie.
As a candidate, Jimmy Carter said, “I will never lie to you.” That was a lie.
Carter was drawing a contrast between himself and his egregiously mendacious predecessors Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon. He was never a liar on their scale, but everyone lies. It’s human nature. As long as the lies are about small things or don’t hurt anyone, it’s no big whoop.
Shorter Adrastos: Small lies can be okay, BIG LIES never are.
There’s been an epidemic of lying by American public figures in the 21st Century. I’ve selected three white dudes to represent all the liars out there. This is one time where diversity doesn’t matter.
Repeat after me: Everyone lies.
Former President George W Bush is the son of a liar. Remember when Poppy Bush claimed not to be in the Iran-Contra loop? That was a lie.
W’s reputation is on the rise. He looks good in contrast to the Impeached Insult Comedian. But W was also a terrible president and an egregious liar. He had his own BIG LIE that led to the disastrous Iraq War,
Saddam Hussein was a disgusting despot but he had nothing to do with 9/11 attacks. W claimed he did. It was really about vengeance for Saddam’s attempt to assassinate W’s dad.
Speaking of revenge, former President* Pennywise’s CPAC speech was a disgusting display of 21st Century mendacity. He claims to seek vengeance on behalf of his followers but he’s out to erase the Scarlet L from his forehead: LOSER.
In addition to telling the BIG LIE, the Kaiser of Chaos is the lyingest liar who was ever president. I’ve lost track of the lies he told while in office but he started lying as a small child and never stopped.
I’m sick of writing about Donald John Trump, so let’s move on to the least important of the three liars in our mendacity triptych, Richard Alexander Murdaugh.
Here’s how I began my post about The Murdaugh Mishigas:
Alex Murdaugh is the perfect villain for the Trump era. He’s a greedy, entitled, and lying motherfucker. Now he’s a convicted murderer.
Self-quotation is my jam.
Alex Murdaugh is the epitome of 21st Century mendacity. Bush and Trump told earth-shattering lies that effected the entire country, but Murdaugh’s lies were up close and personal. He lied to those closest to him.
I hadn’t planned to write about the Murdaugh mishigas again but there’s a fascinating piece about Alex’s older brother Randolph in the NYT. Big bro Randy hopes that Alex is not a family annihilator BUT he’s not sure. He’s one of the partners in the family law firm, so this experience shaped his view of his convict kid brother:
About three months after the killings, Randy said, the other law partners called Randy in to look at some financial records that appeared to show without a doubt that Alex had been stealing from the firm. Randy and another partner confronted Alex the next morning, he said, in a tense conversation in which Alex admitted to the embezzlement and revealed a serious addiction to painkillers, which Alex said prompted the thefts. Randy recalled that his brother seemed relieved to come clean.
Alex promised that morning that he would never lie to him again. It took about 24 hours for him to break that promise, Randy said, when he told Randy and the police that he had been shot on the side of the road by an unknown assailant. In fact, the police later said, Alex had asked someone to kill him.
Alex’s lawyer claims that the entire Murdaugh family is behind him 100%. That’s another lie. It’s a hung family with Randy Murdaugh hoping that Alex didn’t commit murder, but he doesn’t believe a word his brother says.
Finally, I thought that the jury would hang after Murdaugh’s testimony but I was wrong. The jurors didn’t buy his act, especially the copious crocodile tears he shed. If any of them are Trumpers, they should apply the same standard to that lying sack of shit.
I was briefly an apostate from my default position against defendants in criminal trials testifying. I was called for jury duty in 2019. For obvious reasons, I was never selected. I was, however, part of a voir dire panel. The defense lawyer asked me, “What would you think if the defendant didn’t testify.”
“That he had a good lawyer.”
The prosecutor chimed in, “What would you think if the defendant DID testify.”
“That he had a bad lawyer.”
I was dismissed from the panel shortly thereafter.
21st Century mendacity has seriously damaged our country. It’s often hard to know who is telling the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. The whole country should be put under oath but many would still lie like the unholy trinity of 21st Century liars: Bush, Trump, and Murdaugh.
The last word goes to King Crimson live with my main man John Wetton on lead vox:
As long as they get away with lying, or worse PROFIT from it, the lying will continue.
Scrag the liars.