WSJ says it won't call Trump a liar

He cannot tell a lie.

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There’s a big problem in America.  One that scares the crap out of me.

For years, we Americans pointed to the FSU (former Soviet Union), Turkey, Venezuela, China as states that made up news to keep their citizens in line.  We never emulated them- we made fun of them.  We derided the fact that their propaganda that purported to be news could be believed.

Except now, we have a President (elect) who feels free to invent facts.  A slew of folks who spread lies like it’s jelly on white bread.  (Yes, I chose those items on purpose.)  With more folks who pass along this drivel via their own eMail, Twitter, and Facebook accounts. And, a public media that abrogates their responsibilities to report facts.

That last one is the scariest.  Because our founders knew that a free press, one that demands truth from those in power, is critical to the existence of our republic.  That’s why the VERY first amendment defends the ability of the press to operate freely in this country.  (Let us not forget that Mr. Trump wants to change that very amendment!   Because if HE feels he is being picked on, he wants the right to prosecute the media.  Because HE never lies.)

Let me clarify that parenthetic statement.   The courts in America have repeatedly ruled that at the time of publication, the media (the reporter, the newspaper, the journal, the broadcaster) are not guilty of a crime unless they knew they were erring at the moment of reporting- or they were reckless in making that mistake.

Mr. Trump wants us to believe that he is an absolute moron and knows nothing so he can invent facts that he believes to be true and therefore did not know they were wrong.  (Of course, he is so smart, he knows more than the generals, knows more than the intelligence apparatus of this nation….)  Or, that Mr. Trump regards himself as a regent (a king) – and what he says ipso facto must be true- because he says so.

That is the crux of our current problem.   Let’s not prevaricate.  These are not untruths,  these are not the brain farts that ex-Governor Rick Perry had during the debates (where he forgot the facts he wanted to use, where he couldn’t recall the federal agency that he is about to manage).  These utterances of Mr. Trump are simply abject lies.

Now, we have the Editor in Chief of the Wall Street Journal (Gerard Baker) letting us know that he will not let his esteemed publication call a lie a lie.

I admit that I am a child of the 50s and 60s.  And, I recognize that Vietnam, LBJ, and Richard Nixon changed the way we Americans looked at our country.  Starting with the staged Bay of Tonkin BS that started the VietNam War’s escalation.  Where the media were told that our troops killed more folks than ever existed in Vietnam.  It’s why folks like me are terrified of slogans like “Make America Great Again”.  Because it mimics the worst of the Nixon era; the era that truly destroyed trust in America- worldwide.

When the term “credibility gap” was coined.  We had become a nation of cynics.  At least the younger set did.  By the way, no one (including the Wall Street Journal) found it difficult to call LBJ a liar by the end. (Some of us began that litany years earlier.)  And, LBJ’s lies were nothing like the ones Trump vociferates almost hourly.

WSJ says it won't call Trump a liar

Oh, sure, Mr. Baker admits that what Mr. Trump says is- way more often than not- items “whose truthfulness is, shall we say for now, challengeable”.  He states that “… ‘Lie’ implies much more than just saying something that’s false. It implies a deliberate intent to mislead.”

Now, I know most of you decried Mr. Trump’s statements about the multitudes of Moslem folks in New Jersey who were thrilled as the World Trade Center collapsed.   But, as I told my friends (some of whom are in the media), that Trump was  indeed wrong- but his confusion resulted from watching too much Fox News.

Why?  Because the station repeatedly switched from visions of the Tower’s destruction, to communities across the US (including New Jersey), and then to the demonstrations that were occurring in the West Bank.  I felt at the time that it was irresponsible to switch reporting  in that willy nilly fashion. (I must also mention that it was not just Fox News that was guilty of this practice.)   Even so, Mr. Trump should have apologized after folks demonstrated his error.  But, as we all know, Trump never apologizes.

But, that’s not the same sort of “mistake” as his claim that Obama wasn’t an American.  Or, that he never went to Columbia or Harvard.  Instead, Trump simply  “invented new facts”, claiming that he was just copying what someone else said.

No, Trump knows he is lying.  And, he dares the media to take him to task.   Mr. Baker feels that the news cannot be improved by telling readers “in categorical terms that Mr. Trump has told a “lie”’; in fact, he feels the Journal’s reputation “would have been damaged”.

Actually, Gerald Baker, the very opposite is true.

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13 thoughts on “He cannot tell a lie.”

    1. My non-politically correct (yup!) reply is to use a song (isn’t that appropriate for the man who runs this year in music????)….
      One written and sung by Meghan Trainor.
      Your lips are moving, Your lips are moving, and you lie, lie, lie…

    2. To be politically incorrect (after all, isn’t that the standard Mr. Trump employs…) and to use your bailiwick (you are THE man behind this year in music), I will quote Meghan Trainor…

      I know you lie cause your lips are movin….

  1. As usual, very on point, Roy. And, as usual, SO agree with you – this is a reckless time in social media/journalism, supporting these untruths (which are known as such when they pass through the lips of the President-Elect). Being very vigilant…

  2. Thank you for this really great media criticism. I blame the media for the disaster that was called the 2016 presidential election and for the results of the election. There were better candidates who got zero media attention. At the same time, the media chose to give an excessive amount of free air time to Trump, who spewed a lot of garbage (sorry, I can’t think of a more civil word). Better candidates withdrew because the media was not interested in hearing from people who sounded sensible. I would be grateful if they would give up the role of kingmaker and go back to simply reporting the news.

    1. Alice…
      I am in total agreement. The amount of free press provided Mr. Trump, the lack of critical thought applied to his wild-ass statements, the failure to call Fake News when they saw it, the failure to call Mr. Comey to task for his political actions, the abrogation of responsibility to report about Ms. Wasserman-Schultz’ improper actions to bolster Hillary and destroy Bernie…. The list is long.
      And, the US will suffer the consequences.
      Thanks for the visit and the comment.

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