Denial and Dysfunction in Politics

"The very powerful and the very stupid have one thing in common. They don't alter their views to fit the facts. They alter the facts to fit the views."

Christopher Weyant, The Boston Globe, MA

Disclaimer

In the dog-eat-dog world of politics, certain politicians have abused the term "Fake News" despite being pioneers of said fake news and conspiracies. This essay lays light on one of the most incompetent presidents in the history of the US: Donald Trump. If a devout follower of this lunatic is reading this article, either neglect it and remain oblivious of his true nature, or read and prepare to have the clouds of ignorance shook. 

Years into the grim and turbulent reign of Donald Trump, one piercing revelation has emerged: He is a man-child trying to discredit what he doesn't like with 'Fake' labels. A striking irony is that he is responsible for over 18,000 political lies and is a pioneer of propagating the fakest of fake news. The President has frequently used falsehoods to attack his rivals and overstate his popularity and successes. Furthermore, as unfortunate as it seems, his followers have not wavered; they too have started accusing the Mainstream Media of being phoney. 

According to the President, the whole world is out to get him: Fake reporting, fake news, fake books, the fake dossier, fake CNN. To advance the bogus claims, Google had search results "rigged" to show only fake news media. He has a childlike mind and innocence, and his party is playing him like a fiddle. Nay, a fiddle is hard to play; a kazoo fits the circumstance. The entire Republican Party is hiding its laughs, as the Donald continues to ruin his reputation and what little dignity he had.

When a fool has spun many webs of lies around himself, he is bound to get caught in them eventually. Remember, for example, late in his 2016 campaign(more like crusade), when all the polls suggested he was headed for a humiliating fall? Trump started bleating about the "rigged system" stacked against him. Right indeed, the system was rigged but not against him, as claimed. Moreover, thanks to the Electoral College, Trump won the White House despite losing the popular vote by three million voters. (In fact, the Electoral College's bias toward whiter, sparsely populated states, means Trump could lose by five million votes in 2020 and still retain the presidency.)

Here are some of the most flagrant and incriminating lies told by the Angry Creamsicle:

1) Ukraine interfered in the 2016 election

The Mueller report concluded that the Russian government, not Ukraine, interfered in the 2016 election, working to boost Trump's bid while damaging his Democratic rival. This lie has come back to bite him again after the whistleblower on Trump abusing the power of his office by pressuring a vulnerable ally into announcing investigations into the Bidens and Democrats that could boost his bid for re-election.

2) Where Hurricane Dorian was expected to hit

In September, the President came under fire for tweeting that Hurricane Dorian was expected to hit Alabama even though the majority of forecasts said it would not. The National Weather Service in Birmingham, Alabama, tweeted to say Dorian would not affect the state. The President continued to insist he was correct, even apparently altering a map with a marker in the Oval Office to reflect this view. 

The second point shows how the above quote is very much accurate. It is not the first time that politicians like Donald Trump have attempted to alter facts to fit their perspective. These altered "facts", now called alternative facts, are the very basis of the flimsy reality that Trump lives in; A reality where his words are the final truth. How can truth and opinions prevail when the President condemns all those who speak against him? ("The FAKE NEWS media (failing @nytimes, @NBCNews, @ABC, @CBS, @CNN) is not my enemy, it is the enemy of the American People!")

It is evident from the case of Trump and Fox News, where Trump thinks he owns Fox. Trump loves that many Fox hosts are his loudest cheerleaders—but any deviation from Trumpian orthodoxy he views as a betrayal. When Fox News too started reporting professionally, Trump began reminding that he "made" them.

The backbone of any democracy is an independent, professional and accountable media. Their role is to inform, analyse and spur debate. How is this possible when the "watchdogs of democracy" are being called the enemy of the state? Why is the very fabric of American democracy being challenged by an incompetent hypocrite? When will this denial and dysfunction stop, so that the naked truth is not hidden behind layers of legislation?