A reader writes:
You've got it with this post. I'm not a fan of the mythological language of the Bible, but in the New Testament Satan is called the Father of lies. That sums it up. Start believing one lie, because it makes you feel good, and then another, because it vindicates you in that never-ending argument that is going on in your head, and pretty soon the whole ground has shifted beneath your feet and you can't tell any longer what's what.
Instructive: those who lie with the most vehemence do so in the name of the God their action of lying betrays. At least philosophically considered, God has always been the "ground" of truth.
Another writes:
It is not Republicans' fault for telling these lies. It is their job to make the opposition look bad and win elections. It is the rest of the non-Fox media (if there is any left) for not telling the truth.
Another:
It seems to me your post on the "big lies" of Republican candidates and pundits demonstrates much of what is wrong with American politics. Do you really think that Charles Krauthammer, the entire staff of National Review, and a large percentage of the Republican Congressional delegation really do not believe what they are saying, but are spouting untruths for political advantage? Now they may be wrong, mistaken, deluded, whatever -- but liars? Calling those with whom you disagree names is just the sort of thing which has become all too prominent in American politics in the last twenty years.
Another:
It's incredible that such plain and obvious insights seem, in light of today's prevailing narratives, so outrageously daring. Thank you for struggling on everyone's behalf to show us what is right in front of our noses.
Another:
You know, I want to offer Republican friends the benefit of the doubt.
I want to conclude that the genesis of this hyperventilating against our very capable president isn't because of his race or his party or his success in life. I want to conclude they have seriously paid attention to Obama's accomplishments, weighed the value of them, taken into consideration the dire circumstances our country faced as the Bush era was winding down, and then reasoned out thoughtful ideas in opposition or credible arguments for other actions that would have worked as well to help our country heal. However, it appears to me that they, like sinners on a death bed, are, with suspicious suddenness, "concerned about deficit spending" and scared for their grandchildrens' tax burden. These are the same friends who, up until almost the night of Obama's election, were happily chanting Cheney's refrain, "Deficits don't matter!" But now they've got religion about balanced budgets as soon as a Democratic black man walks into the doors of the White House.
What I truly don't understand is how my Republican friends, who are all middle class and generally college educated and able to read the newspaper or grasp tricky concepts and discuss them intelligently, are suddenly feeling threatened for millionaires, for Wall Street banks and execs, and for monolith health insurance companies, who are screwing them. My friends act like they either don't know this is happening or don't mind one bit and suddenly, Obama is a villain taking away their freedom to be screwed by these heartless mega-corporations. What's up with that?
My Republican friends are also children of immigrants in the not too distant past. Yet, they are currently reacting with increasing bigotry towards immigrants newer than themselves and people of color or of different tradition or religion, just since a Democratic black man became president. How does this happen? Suddenly, Obama's policies, his sanity, his humanity, his energy, his intellect, his reasonableness, his nerve--none of that matters to my Republican friends. His value is not even seen by them. They won't look at him. They just listen to lies from the Media Lie Machine and brand him a socialist, while covering their bigotry with unspecified fluff, "I disagree with his policies." Or, "I believe he's leading America down the wrong road."
Maybe Jon Stewart is right about our media being our immune system and how its defense of our country is broken and now everybody has excema. Or maybe, it's because a Democratic black man won the White House and my Republican friends can no longer hide their unresolved fear of people of color in positions of power.