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Amy Pemberton's avatar

I been contemplating this issue since the November. Or more accurately, the question of truth-telling or parrhesia. One thing I have found that Republicans have loved to argue when they are called out on lying is their belief or sincerity. I respond to that by the insistence that there are certain things certain people are expected to know by virtue of their training or position. For example, the Secretary of the Department of Education is required to know who can and cannot legally shut it down. So when Linda McMahon says that she or Trump can unilaterally shut down ED she is lying. Her beliefs to the contrary, however sincere or firmly held, are not relevant.

I define lying as "a deliberate act or statement based on a factual claim that the person knew to be untrue or should have known was untrue." Willful credulity is not a defense against a claim of dishonesty.

The other issue is nonpartisan. In the age of social media we need to all be very cautious about the information we repeat and boost. Spreading lies is a bipartisan activity and I am sorry to say that some of the people and organizations the news media, who should be putting the kibosh on the administrations lies, seem to be gleefully spreading them with nary a fact check. We need to speak the truth boldly in this time, but I think we have a greater responsibility to boldly keep silent, especially when our wish for something to be true is much greater than the evidence at hand.

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