For most people, August 17, 1998 may not seem like a significant date. But until recently it was a date of significance in modern history. It was the day then-U.S. President Bill Clinton lied under oath, and started a chain reaction that led to charges of perjury and obstruction of justice and ultimately his impeachment.
The entire process went down in history for many of us as being all about a blowjob from an adult intern, but in the end it was all about lying under oath. He was impeached by the House, and then the Senate voted 45-55 to not remove Clinton from office.
Fast forward almost 23 years and former U.S. President Donald Trump is on the verge of a second impeachment hearing in the Senate following his role in an attack against the United States. After encouraging supporters of his that the past election was rigged and that they should march on the U.S. Capitol, they followed his direction and temporarily took over the building the same day as a vote was scheduled to certify the electoral college results.
The attack occurred as the Senate and House were both in session and Vice President Mike Pence was in the Senate chamber. Meanwhile, when expectations were that Trump would step up and call on an immediate withdrawal of his followers from the Capitol building, he instead went unusually silent for the next few hours. He only encouraged the attackers to stand down after the situation was under control and President-Elect Joe Biden had publicly called the day’s events an insurrection against the nation.
The day of the attacks was the culmination of one of most odd presidencies in U.S. history, but the lies that spurred it have continued. What has been amazing is that in less than two decades, a significant number of Americans have dug in and immersed themselves in an assault on truth.
It may have started with acceptance of guys like Alex Jones, who used a myriad of lies and outlandish conspiracy theories to build a network of fools who supported his own network called Info Wars. Jones, who was found guilty of lying about the lack of validity of the school shooting in Sandy Hook. Jones has found his credibility to be on the decline since that court ruling, but his lies continue to gather steam.
Now, Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene is front and center of potentially losing all power in office for her own support of a series of conspiracy theories that have all been debunked. And even facing a future removal from office, she continues to stand up for accusations that only a small fraction of people actually believe.
Ever since it was suggested that factual reporting was actually “fake news” or “alternative facts,” the moral integrity of the country went down the toilet. Lies became reality for far too many people and the truth was a distant memory. By the time Trump began pounding out tweets that he could only lose the election if it were rigged, the foundation had been set for an outcome built on untruths and false allegations.
The past year was one that filled with lies, starting with Trump downplaying the CoronaVirus - first as a Democratic hoax, then as no big deal, and then as something he was constantly fixing to be better very quickly. Clearly, with 26.3 million Americans infected and almost 450,00 dead, none of those statements were true. Yet, his lies continue to have a large number of people being fine with their loved ones dying just so long as they got to continue having their perception of freedoms.
Trump is in Florida playing golf in relative obscurity, hopefully becoming only a distant memory to anyone not prosecuting crimes in the southern district of New York. But the lies will continue until we take the truth back in this country. And that needs to begin now. For the sake of humanity.
