How to Build a Republican Lie
I am not the first to outline how Republican lies morph into a dispute. If one has paid attention the process has been as steady as it is insidious. There are six steps to a Republican lie but before their attempt at confusion starts the assertion has to be made under the guise of; I am just asking the question. One example of this is the recent interview of Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene conducted by CNN journalist Jim Acosta. In the latest attempt at covering for the Capitol insurrectionists, Rep. Taylor submitted her audition tape for the poster child of the Republican lie machine. After being challenged by Acosta about the lack of evidence to her vague accusations of complicity by either the FBI, Antifa, or both in the riots, Ms. Greene left Mr. Acosta exasperated and herself in the usual morass of her ill-informed foolishness. As reported by Mediaite, this is a summation of their conversation:
Acosta: “Where is the proof the FBI was involved?” he asked. “Where’s the proof antifa was involved? Don’t you owe it to people to produce that proof?”
Greene: “I don’t know,” she said. “I didn’t cause the riots, so I certainly don’t owe it.”
Acosta: “There’s no evidence,” Acosta said.
Greene: “Look, look,” Greene insisted. “There are questions that need to be answered.”
Acosta: “You can ask questions about anything,” said Acosta.
Following the encounter, Mr. Acosta expressed a sentiment a lot of us can identify with, wanting to pull one’s hair out. Ms. Greene’s reaction much like that of Sen. Ron Johnson or Rep. Louis Gohmert is just the warning horn for the impending series of lies to come. Step one is to tell the lie (Obviously, the Trump Big Lie comes to mind). Secondly, after the Big Lie is told the media and pundits, of course, contradict it, giving the liars an adversary. Thirdly, the liars accuse the press of being liberals and ignoring the questions of middle America. Fourth, the media falls for the ruse and says the lie is no longer a lie but a dispute. Fifth, surrogates on both sides turn the lie into a debate, and the press covers it as such. Sixth, the two political camps divide and the public fuse is lit, ‘where there is smoke there must be fire.’
Donald Trump understood the need to create a parapet of unshakeable supporters, ready to consume any lie and eat the regurgitated and factless gruel with a smile. I am not naïve enough to believe that politics is not surrounded by some people on both sides who will lie for power. I will say the Republican party is infected with a virus as deadly to the health of Democracy as Covid-19 is to lives. The Republican party is ready, able, and willingly running into the bosom of fascism. I debate with myself the reasoning behind why Republicans, whom I truly believe love their country and some have fought for her colors, are so anxious to swallow lies. The hysterical vitriol surrounding the ideas of graduate law students being taught Critical Race Theory is a part of the cultural lies Republicans have popularized for political gain since Reagan: welfare mothers in Cadillacs, marauding Latino rapist, replacement theory, and now, teaching white kids to be guilt-ridden. The overriding theme for all those paradigms is the sense of superiority or more importantly for supremacists, is the fear of losing their place in the hierarchy.
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