Sam Waterston: The danger of Trumps constant lying
You may know me as an actor. Im also a longtime supporter of election reform and opponent of partisanship. In 1999 I gave a talk at one of the last bipartisan congressional retreats, using what I had learned preparing to play Abraham Lincoln to warn against faction, partisanships original name. The founders knew partisanship to be one of the few things powerful enough to destroy the great American democratic experiment. I had some great quotes. John Hume, a Nobel laureate for his work to bring peace in Northern Ireland, spoke before me. His experience made searing testimony. We did our best. It seems it didnt work.
Until 2008, when an effort called Unity08, led by Democrat Gerald Rafshoon and Republican Doug Bailey, to elect a bipartisan presidential ticket was defeated, I was a registered Independent. To vote for Barack Obama in the primary that year, I joined a party. Believing it to be the best use of what influence my career in show business might have, Ive served, more or less quietly, for many years on the boards of Oceana and Refugees International. But working quietly doesnt feel like an option now. This feels like an all-hands-on-deck moment.
The great issue of today is lying constant lying in public. Lying is the ally of faction and, since President Trumps rise to power, it is the greater danger. Yes, the word is lying not negotiation, salesmanship, bluster, attention-getting, delusion, deception, braggadocio, exaggeration, bullying, alternative facts, or any other euphemism. Once, President John F. Kennedy could say that our national problems were no longer ideological but technical. Lying on a grand scale has reversed that.
And its hard to keep up. Trump has lied about climate change and the character and motives of refugees, about how asylum-seekers have been vetted in the past and how many have been able to enter the United States, about immigrants, and a long list of other matters. As with partisanship, the more lying there is, the worse it is. And Trumps alternative facts have meant nasty real-world consequences.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/sam-waterston-the-danger-of-trumps-constant-lying/2017/01/30/71f76e2e-e72a-11e6-80c2-30e57e57e05d_story.html?utm_term=.2893a92ac00e&wpisrc=nl_rainbow&wpmm=1