I have long thought Joe Scarborough is a partisan hack, but his exchange with Lawrence O’Donnell on MSNBC this morning reveals much more. In defending Dick Cheney, Scarborough was arguing that "everybody" believed Sadam had WMD. The New York Times, the CIA, Bill Clinton, the democrats, blah, blah, blah. And to avoid having to debate about, well, facts of Cheney’s lies, to put to bed any notion that Cheney somehow lied, to end this liberal slander, Joe just whipped out his trump card: Cheney could not have lied because "it’s not a lie if you believe it."
Welcome to Joe’s world.
How can it be that Joe Scarborough is clueless that people do get others to believe a lie? Let’s accept that Joe wasn’t just being a tool, and marvel at his circular, self contained reality: if I am deceived into believing a lie it’s not a lie because I believe it therefore I could not have been deceived.
Actually Joe, you are deluded.
In Joe's world republicans can say anything, and it’s all true because they believe it. Or the New York Times believes it. Or Rush says he believes it.
This is exactly the belief mechanism republicans have used to justify things to themselves and allows them to sleep at night. It is a pathology. I am glad to finally hear one admit it.
Here is but a short list of republican lies that we knew were lies but evidently aren’t lies because the people saying them, like Joe, believed them:
I am not a crook.
We did not trade arms for hostages.
We will cut taxes, increase defense spending and balance the budget in 4 years.
Tax cuts increase revenues.
Government is the problem.
It’s about the rule of law.
I’m a uniter not a divider.
Sadam possess WMD
It’s been pretty much confirmed....
Aluminum tubes that could only be used for producing uranium.
We do not torture.
Mission accomplished.
These were the isolated actions of a few lower level soldiers.
Democrats want to appease the terrorists.
Protestors are giving aid and comfort to the enemy.
I do not recall.....
There are legitimate questions about whether he is a citizen.
Death panels.
Sorry Joe, you are a liar too.