In 1994, Henry Rollins and the Rollins band released a single with these memorable lines,
And then you meet me
And your whole world changes
Because everything I say is everything you've ever wanted to hear
So you drop all your defenses and you drop all your fears
And you trust me completely
I'm perfect in every way
'Cause I make you feel so strong and so powerful inside
You feel so lucky
But your ego obscures reality and you never bother to wonder why things are going so well
You wanna know why?
'Cause I'm a liar!
Yeah, I'm a liar!
From the song ‘Liar’
Was Rollins a prophet and a political philosopher? Or was it merely coincidence that in the same year, the Republicans, led by a man incapable of telling the truth, Newt Gingrich, won the House for the first time in 40 years, bringing the curtain down on the golden age of American liberalism?
Reagan talked of ‘trickle-down’ economics and how you could cut taxes and increase military spending while at the same time shrink the deficit. It was complete nonsense. But Reagan was the first to make the claim. And you could call it the sort of aspirational, wishful thinking that all politicians indulge in. But by 1994, it was known to be complete bullshit. And all Republicans maintaining that fiction were lying, and they knew it. Bush knew it. And Congress, when they cut taxes in 2017, knew it.
World-class liar Donald Trump proved the adage “birds of a feather flock together” with his hirings. The most shameless and audacious was his final campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway. She lied and lied in admitting that she lied, famously calling her blatant falsehoods “alternate facts”.
All four of his Press Secretaries were liars — from Sean “the largest audience to ever witness an inauguration, period,” Spicer, to Kayleigh “I will never lie to you. You have my word on that,” McEnany. Spicer did have the grace to later admit he was a bullshitter — but to this day, McEnany has never met a fact she couldn’t dismiss in preference for a bald-faced howler. She can be found reliably lying in the prevaricator's paradise, dishonestly named Fox News.
There she is playing in mendacity’s major leagues. Old stalwarts like Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham slit honesty’s throat nightly. But the most flagrant fabulist in the Fox fold is Tucker Carlson. Just last night he maintained he knew no white supremacists. Does he never look in a mirror? Or talk to the average Fox guest? Has he not interviewed Republican politicians? Or conservative evangelicals? Not only does he know white supremacists. He keeps hiring them.
If the right confined their wrongs to a cable TV channel, it would be irritating. But it would not be an existential concern. But the GOP has adopted lying as an MO. There is no falsehood, no matter how provably untrue, they will not embrace it if it advances their cause. And they are on to something. Because, like Rollins, they understand the power of a liar. As did America’s most incisive political journalist H.L. Mencken, who observed,
“The men the American people admire most extravagantly are the most daring liars; the men they detest most violently are those who try to tell them the truth.”
It is not that Americans cannot handle the truth. It is that they do not want the truth. Much as alcoholics and drug abusers are often trying to dull the pain, so will the consumer of lies eagerly swallow the most outrageous untruth if it will allow them to feel better, even if for only a short while. It is this refusal to acknowledge reality that makes religion as attractive as fascism. And it is why conservative evangelicals have no conscience when it comes to embracing conservative politicians they know are lying through their teeth.
Liberals are gobsmacked by the complete nonsense Republicans will seemingly believe. But if by believing it they are given permission to hate the people they want to hate, then the more absurd the lie the better. These are people who would rather take a chance on dying than getting a COVID vaccine because they trust the politicians who have the same biases as they do. They are part of the club. It’s how sects work.
Every autocrat relying on populism to propel him to the top of the greasy pole knows that the masses have an unlimited tolerance for being lied to. It is the basis of propaganda. Bush lied us into a war with “if you aren’t with us, you’re against us”. Adding that he didn’t “do nuance”. Life is simpler when it is reduced to a false dichotomy. Which is why the Right lies to differentiate itself from the Left.
It is not that liberals always get it right. It is that they try to. The truth is its own reward. So they will acknowledge global warming, evolution and that race played a fundamental role in America’s history. Conservatives then will adopt the contrary position, because there is no room left for the idea of a united government tackling common problems.
It makes you wonder if, should liberals all decided to be ‘born again’, that whether within a few years the right-wing would embrace atheism. Of course, it’s a moot point, because liberals, even the religious ones, are confident that they were born right the first time. Or as the philosopher Lady Gaga said
I'm beautiful in my way
'Cause God makes no mistakes
I'm on the right track, baby
I was born this way
Don't hide yourself in regret
Just love yourself and you're set
I'm on the right track, baby
I was born this way