“If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State.”
Joseph Goebbels, Nazi Propaganda Minister
Heading into Donald Trumps’ second week as the 45th President of the United State of America, I can state that he is a liar who did not lie about his campaign promises; but, the foundation of his campaign promises and actions are based on lies. Trump’s use of lies to promote a dystopian America is an overt attempt to establish himself as an authoritarian president.
Gerald Baker, editor-in-chief of the Wall Street Journal, defined a lie as a “deliberate intent to mislead,” during his Jan.1, 2017 appearance on Meet the Press.
Using Mr. Baker’s definition, Trumps’ statements that he would have won the popular vote if it were not for 3 million illegal undocumented voters this past November is an outrageous lie. I believe this “alternative fact” is a prelude to future, steroid-infused, voter suppression legislation and policies in order to improve his 2020 re-election chances.
Trump’s temporary bans on the U.S. accepting refugees and individuals traveling from Iran, Iraq, Yemen, Sudan, Libya, Somalia, and war-torn Syria are based on protecting us Americans from terrorist attacks on U.S. soil because these are countries prone to terror. The truth, as reported by the Cato Institute and CNN, is that the total of fatal terrorist deaths committed by citizens of the above countries on U.S. soil is ZERO. The ban may not be a complete ban on Muslims entering the U.S., but it is political tool to produce the very fear that Trump wants to stir-up to keep us constantly re-focusing on the ever-changing news cycle which he seems to control.
Last week, Trump issued an executive order to begin the process for building an expensive and unnecessary wall along the U.S./Mexican border which (unless you are the contractor building the wall) is another fear-mongering tool to scare his supporters into believing that his authoritarian order can save them from the evil of illegal immigration.
During the presidential campaign, Trump continued to lie that illegal Mexicans are pouring across the border. Political.com documented that the largest population illegally entering the US via the US/Mexican border are mostly women and children fleeing poverty and oppression from Central American.
In the 1949 book, 1984, author George Orwell wrote of doublethink. Doublethink is the act of simultaneously accepting two mutually contradictory beliefs as correct. Orwell’s most famous three examples: War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery, and Ignorance is Strength.
It appears that Trump’s doublethink is attempting to create a perceptional war against Islam as a way to empower his supporters with fear, and use that fear to make them believe that only Trump can keep them safe. In other words, it keeps Trump’s base loyal to him. The perceptional war distracts his voters from the fact that, since 9/11, gun accidents have killed more U.S. citizens than acts of terrorism.
Trump’s use of fear enslaves his supporters to support unconstitutional measures which may impact the freedoms enjoyed by American citizens. The 9/11 attacks led U.S. citizens into willfully giving up some of the freedoms we used to enjoy prior to the PATRIOT Act and Trump’s recent un-American travel ban executive order.
The suppression of factual and objective journalism fuels authoritarian and totalitarian governments. The greatest threat to Trump aren’t Mexicans or Islam, but the truth.
— Dwayne Truss, Austin
