When did lying become so routine?
Our leaders regularly prevaricate for their own ends
If you followed the news, here are some things we learned in (recent weeks):
1) The leadership of the Albuquerque police blatantly lied to the public and the Albuquerque Journal about having investigated a prior Children, Youth and Families Department referral regarding Victoria Martens, the young girl tragically raped, murdered and dismembered in 2016. The APD fabricated a story out of whole cloth, telling the Journal in January 2017 that two police investigators had gone to Marten’s home and investigated the allegation, had determined no crime had been committed, then left without making a report. This was a month after the leadership of the APD, including Chief (Gorden) Eden, had been briefed on what really happened — that APD had received a referral from CYFD about possible abuse of the Martens child and had not done anything.
2) President Donald Trump, who seems to lie and dissemble with such regularity that it makes one question whether he actually can discern truth from fiction, lied about being complimented by the head of the Boy Scouts of America — who publicly denied making any such phone call — and he lied about being complimented by the president of Mexico relating to border enforcement — also publicly denied by the president of Mexico. These are just the latest, mostly silly and inconsequential lies that Trump has been caught in, similar to his lying about the crowd size of his inauguration being the largest ever, that he was elected with the greatest majority in the electoral college ever, that Hillary Clinton only won the popular vote because 3 million to 5 million illegal votes were cast for her, etc.
3.) In Baltimore, the police were caught on video planting evidence to justify drug arrests. This is just the latest in a long string of situations, including some in Albuquerque, where video evidence has exposed lies by police throughout the country . ...
There are many things to be concerned about for the future of our country. Global climate change, hyper-partisanship, growing economic inequality, etc. However, my main concern these days for the future of our country lies in (being) aghast at the blatant mendacity of people in power. From our president on down through governors, mayors, the leadership of the Albuquerque police, to policemen on the street, we find men and women who lie to the public, over and over, without consequences. None of these people are young adults who have gotten into trouble by a bad personal decision and are lying to try to get out of it. These are all people in positions of power who lie to confuse the people they actually work for — the public. Where is their moral compass? How was it that all of these people grew up and learned that lying to get ahead was OK? Just askin’.