A truth will always be a truth and a lie will always be a lie. No matter how many times a lie is repeated, it cannot become true, though it can become believed. And the truth can never be changed, but if it’s denied enough, the denial becomes true and the truth is ignored. Any skilled liar or sociopath knows this, and so do politicians.
If a liar or a sociopath knows he’s about to say something that isn’t true, he’s almost sure to say it twice, three time, four. And if there’s something true that’s become irritating, you’ll hear the denial more than that, and you’ll hear it in many different places, just like the lie.
After the lie has been repeated a few times, say 125, it becomes believable, even to people who prefer to walk away from lies. And the arbitrary number, 125, becomes the magic number for a denial becoming accepted and the truth ignored.
(We’re not talking about urban myths, or if Babe Ruth really did point to the spot he was going to hit the next pitch. Those are harmless, not even lies. They’re fun.)
We’re talking about real lies, mean, with the ability to hurt many innocent people. These are the orchestrated lies, told and told again by different people, and told with only one purpose. These lies are told to deceive, as all lies are, but that’s not the end purpose.
The purpose is to gain something for someone while simultaneously losing something for another. The joy of this lie, to the person who started it, is that all the people who believe the lie are going to repeat it and have a straight face when they do it. They become true believers, most of them, and they’re happy to share something with someone who hasn’t heard it yet.
And all the time, there’s someone benefitting from the lie and someone suffering because of the lie. We don’t have to look much further than presidential politics to see this in action.
The lie: Obama’s a Muslim. The truth: No, he isn’t. He’s Christian. But the lie has been told so often, with such rancor and meanness, that huge numbers of people believe it. So, for the person who started the lie, there’s success.
The lie: Obama’s not a citizen. The truth: Yes, he is.
Okay, you can see where this started and you can see where it’s taken the original liar. There were votes involved and these 2 lies got some votes for the liar, votes the person being lied about didn’t get. So, in essence, 1 believed lie equals 2 votes, the one taken away and the one received.
And it’s not over yet. The lies will continue as long as there’s a chance of swaying one more voter, that guy who’d rather not do too much thinking about things. And if someone points out the fallacy of what’s being said, what’s he going to be called?