I once represented someone on a disciplinary charge who was accused of unleashing a stream of vulgarities against a manager. He vehemently denied doing so. When I asked if there were any witnesses, he responded, “I hope not.”
While this nitwit at least had the sense to realize the significance of contrary evidence, it is a perspective that has obviously eluded our President.
In his first visit to an agency he now manages, he spoke at the CIA headquarters in front of a memorial to agents who gave their lives serving our country. Trump’s ostensible purpose was to make amends to an agency he recently described as akin to Nazi Germany.
Of course, nothing Trump ever does is about anything other than Donald J. Trump. His real purpose was to attack the media, specifically their failure to acknowledge the enormity of the crowds attending his inauguration, saying it stretched all the way from the Capitol to the Washington Monument.
Now, good liars have the sense to say things for which there is not demonstrable proof they are lying. In this advanced day of cameras and audio recording equipment, that has become more difficult. Trump obviously does not care, because many news outlets ran side-by-side photographs comparing Barack Obama’s first inaugural with what, hopefully, will be Trump’s only one.
Later in the day, Trump sent out spokesperson Sean Spicer to blast the media for its bias in not realizing how great our new President is. One outlet noted that he told four lies in only five and one-half minutes.
One was his assertion that the vast expanse of white in front of the Washington Monument was from sheets protecting the grass that were not used before. (This is to be distinguished from the vast expanse of white on the podium, and in front of it, at the Capitol that were actual humans.) Of course, this directly contradicts his boss, but never mind. The sheets were used before, and the photographs from Obama’s inaugural are rather clearly people, and not sheets or grass.
This morning on Meet the Press, Trump’s prevaricator-in-chief, Kellyanne Conway, made the remarkable assertion that Spicer was simply presenting “alternative facts.” This approach is a boon to the children of our nation. Next time one is caught in a lie, just simply say, “Dad, what I said is an alternative fact.”