Would You Lie for Me?
I am not referring to the line from Notorious B.I.G.’s song, Would You Die for Me. I am talking about the hot topic for the last five days. That is what Democrat Chuck Durbin reported about a bi-partisan meeting where President Trump said, “Why are we having all these people from shithole countries coming here?” He went on to say the Haitians should be left out, and that the “shithole” countries included Africa (actually Mr. President, it is a continent). He also decried “Why can’t we have more immigrants from European countries, like Norway?” Hmmm… can you get any more white than Norway (both the people and the climate). But we are not here to discuss what Trump said, denied emphatically for days now, and called Democratic Senator Durbin a liar.
What I want to point out, is that aside from the White House altering tapes to fit the President’s narrative, Republicans are willingly going on record telling lies to protect the President from embarrassment. Senators Cotton and Perdue, attendees of the meeting, when asked if Trump used the term “shithole” in referring to poor primarily black countries. They both replied that they didn’t remember specifically what the President said. The Washington Post reported on Tuesday, January 16th, that three White House representatives were told by Cotton and Perdue, that they heard “shithouse” not “shithole” thus giving them the out to deny repeatedly the President’s comments. But publicly lying about what Trump said was not where it stopped. Senator Cotton went on to say that Senator Durbin was lying about what was said in the meeting, and he had done it before. There used to be a time that Senators and Representatives from opposing parties still treated each other with respect. They would debate issues voraciously, but this level of hate has left us with a dysfunctional government. I am putting more of the honorous on the Republicans because they have all the control.
On the subject of “Would, you lie for me?” this blog post would be incomplete if it didn’t mention Sarah Huckabee Sanders. The White House Press Secretary’s job is a pretty tough position, to begin with. The amount of verbal gymnastics required by most who have filled the position would make the performers from Circ du Soleil jealous. Sarah’s predecessor Sean Spicer, although not the most notable example still handled the job with some grace and aplomb. Ms. Sanders just lies outright or answers a question with a question. I think her shining moment was not for lying, but making each news representative tell what they were personally thankful for, prior to asking their question. When history looks backs at Sarah, I think she will have a special place in it. Mainly for the lengths, she was willing to go with her lies.
