Fear of Lying

There is an old joke which used to appear frequently on plaques, bumper stickers and T Shirts. "Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they really aren't out to get you." In today's political environment there are all kinds of adaptations that could be made to that old one-liner. "Just because you're a liar doesn't mean you never tell the truth" might be one iteration that could apply to Donald Trump. One of the most effective ways a pathological liar achieves both success and a perceived authorization to continue lying is to mix a degree of truth in with the blatant lies so that where one begins and the other ends becomes muddled and difficult to extricate. As people begin to show their willingness to endorse the lie because it is hidden within the truth the liar becomes emboldened to lie even more.

Truth: Much of our population is confused and fearful of the upsurge in attacks by avowed radical Islamists.

Lie: The recent attacker in Orlando, Florida was part of a worldwide, organized plot to attack Americans.

While the details concerning the background of the attacker are still emerging it seems pretty clear that this man was mentally unstable and his attraction to a movement that couples hate with violence was a manifestation of his mental illness rather than an ideological choice or conviction. His claim to be a member or supporter of organizations that are actually enemies of each other furthers the understanding that in his incoherent derangement he grasped at ways to justify his abhorrent actions. See THIS ARTICLE from the Washington Post for more detail.

So, what does Donald Trump do? He makes an impassioned speech at Saint Anselm College in New Hampshire, lauded by Trumpsters, defending his desire to ban Muslims from entering the United States. FACT ALERT: The Orlando attacker was born in New York. Does he plan on making his ban retro-active? Are we looking at another bout with internment camps, as in World War II? How else would his proposed ban affect the likes of this most recent attacker? Many pundits have drawn parallels between the presumptive Republican candidate for President and Adolf Hitler...if that statement alone isn't enough to sober the reader, contemplate the 8th demand of Hitler's Nazi Party, published February 24, 1920:

8. All non-German immigration must be prevented. We demand that all non-Germans who entered Germany after 2 August 1914 shall be required to leave the Reich forthwith.

Mr. Trump uses the truth of our fear of irrational and violent behavior from proponents of ISIS and radical Islam to support bigotry. Ignoring the threat of unbridled and unmatched terrorism, no matter the source, is not a sane course of action, but equally; fanning the flames of fear and hatred toward a body of people based solely on the religion they profess is insanity and not what the United States stands for.

Level the playing field. Let's draw a correlation here. On June 17, 2015 a white male from Charleston, North Carolina committed an act of "domestic terrorism" and was later charged with hate crimes for the murder of nine church members during Bible study. He admitted to hoping that his actions would incite a race war. He was an avowed supporter of white supremacist groups and had been in direct contact, via the Internet, with several of these organizations. He is quoted as having said something vaguely similar to Mr. Trump's inflammatory remarks against Mexicans before shooting his victims,  "I have to do it. You rape our women and you're taking over our country. And you have to go."  Should we, following Mr. Trump's logic, begin to round up all the white supremacists we can locate in our country? Should we consider that their connection to any organization that espouses anti-social behavior makes them suspect and therefore appropriate for incarceration until their intentions can be clearly established? Or does the presumptive Republican candidate suggest that white supremacists should be deported to the countries from where their ancestors immigrated? According to Ancestry.com that would make the perpetrator more than likely headed for Germany.

Radicalized Christians? Christian Americans have been responsible for a large number of crimes against clinics and individuals that provide abortions. Cases of abduction, murder, arson, anthrax threats and bombings have consistently plagued abortion related individuals and locations. Perpetrators claim devotion to their understanding of Christian doctrine as justification for these actions to protect the lives and souls of unborn babies. Just as radicalized Muslims believe they are defending the tenants of their interpretation of Islam, these radicalized Christians are CONVINCED of the righteousness of their actions. Again, following the logic of the fear mongerer some sort of control mechanism should certainly be mandated. Let's start monitoring Fundamentalist churches, perhaps we could put phone taps on any communication device used by the pastors and their activist supporters? Anyone wearing a cross or bearing a tattoo of Jesus Christ would need to be watched and placed on an FBI list warranting possible internment and deportation to the country of origin of their ancestors.

We are taught, from our earliest years, that lying is a very bad thing. Children lie for many reasons; to avoid punishment, to embellish accomplishments, to seek recognition, to gain favor, and just because. Maturity is supposed to lead us away from this childish behavior; to learn that as we enter adulthood we can no longer rely on the winking away of our transgressions and that if we ignore this mandate there will be consequences. Mr. Trump constantly and consistently mixes slight truth with great lies, uses opinion in the place of facts and willfully misleads with misinformation. And yet, the consequence he faces is election to the highest office of the nation. This is the FEAR OF LYING...that his ability to mesmerize a population will be successful. His need to avoid punishment for his past frauds, to embellish his own achievements, to seek unending recognition, to gain favor with the voting public that is already fearful is leading kind and thoughtful people toward division, bigotry and division.