Trump’s
administration is deeply dishonest, and it’s foolish to trust them
 |
| Kevin Siers, Charlotte Observer |
For example: Donald Trump
is a deeply dishonest person.
Since long before he was a
politician, he’s lied frequently and even
written in multiple books about his profound belief in the
value of lying as a means to get ahead. And he’s good at it.
After his Atlantic City casinos went bust, he successfully duped a bunch of mom-and-pop equity investors out of their money to get out of debt and had them pay him a salary for the privilege.
He then got himself elected president and immediately started bullshitting about everything from the size of his inaugural crowds to the way NATO works to Chinese currency manipulation.
After his Atlantic City casinos went bust, he successfully duped a bunch of mom-and-pop equity investors out of their money to get out of debt and had them pay him a salary for the privilege.
He then got himself elected president and immediately started bullshitting about everything from the size of his inaugural crowds to the way NATO works to Chinese currency manipulation.
When someone has proven over and over again that they are not trustworthy, you can, and in important situations should, stop trusting them.
Unfortunately, in the escalating
crisis with Iran, many people seem to have forgotten this basic principle.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo went
on CNN Friday morning to explain that the Trump administration killed a top
Iranian general to forestall an “imminent threat” and that the decision to do
so “saved American lives.”
Those remarks are simply echoed uncritically in the Washington Post’s main write-up of the story, along with the observation that Pompeo “stressed that Washington is committed to de-escalation” — a fairly dubious assertion given the current cycle of escalating hostilities dates to Trump’s unprovoked decision to pull out of the Iranian nuclear deal. An ABC News write-up stresses the risks of Iranian retaliation, but simply takes Pompeo’s claim of an imminent threat at face value.
Those remarks are simply echoed uncritically in the Washington Post’s main write-up of the story, along with the observation that Pompeo “stressed that Washington is committed to de-escalation” — a fairly dubious assertion given the current cycle of escalating hostilities dates to Trump’s unprovoked decision to pull out of the Iranian nuclear deal. An ABC News write-up stresses the risks of Iranian retaliation, but simply takes Pompeo’s claim of an imminent threat at face value.
It’s obviously possible that this
claim is true. But it’s somewhat at odds with the Department of Defense’s
statement Thursday night saying merely that Suleimani was “actively developing
plans” for attacks and that the American bombing was “aimed at deterring future
Iranian attack plans” rather than disrupting an ongoing one.
And indeed, David Sanger’s news analysis in the New York Times takes the Pentagon’s deterrence account at face value without noting that the secretary of state actually claims the attack was about something else.
And indeed, David Sanger’s news analysis in the New York Times takes the Pentagon’s deterrence account at face value without noting that the secretary of state actually claims the attack was about something else.
Beyond the contradictions, telling
the truth about something would be a strange, new departure for the Trump
administration, and it seems unwise to assume that’s something they would do.
Trump lies all the time about
everything
All politicians garner fact-checks,
but Trump is so dishonest that CNN’s Daniel Dale has a beat composed
exclusively of keeping track of all the nonsense the president spouts,
routinely generating headlines like “Trump made 96 false claims over the last two weeks” and
“Trump makes at least 18 false claims in ranting Fox
& Friends interview.”
The sheer range of things Trump lies
about — including recently claiming that the prime minister of Canada edited a version of Home
Alone 2 to remove a Trump cameo — is mind-boggling
and goes way beyond any kind of normal political process.
Part of Trump lying about everything
is that he frequently says things specifically about Iran that are not true.
Back in July, for example, Trump tweeted about the Obama-era Iran nuclear deal
that misstated the amount of money involved, misstated the duration of the
deal, and fabricated secret Iranian violations of the agreement.
It was not particularly clear at the time why Trump was lying about this stuff. But he lies so routinely about everything that people scarcely bother to inquire about what might be driving those specific lies.
It was not particularly clear at the time why Trump was lying about this stuff. But he lies so routinely about everything that people scarcely bother to inquire about what might be driving those specific lies.
“Iran has long
been secretly “enriching,” in total violation of the terrible 150 Billion
Dollar deal made by John Kerry and the Obama Administration. Remember, that
deal was to expire in a short number of years. Sanctions will soon be
increased, substantially!”
Trump, from time to time, even lies
about his own past statements on Iran, spending one day in September complaining that the
media reported he’d said he was willing to meet with Iranian leaders without
preconditions when he clearly said in both an interview with Chuck Todd and
a press conference with Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe
Conte that he was willing to meet without preconditions.
The point is that the probative
value of a Trump statement about Iran is, to be generous, roughly zero. And
Pompeo is no better.
Mike Pompeo lies a lot (albeit not
as much as Trump)
In the early Trump years, false
things Pompeo said would often be contradicted by members of his team who
valued their standing in polite society over loyalty to Trump.
Over time, people like former Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats who
were in the habit of doing that have been pushed out in favor of people like
Pompeo. As the former CIA director, Pompeo distorted intelligence about Russia to fit Trump’s
preferred narratives. Then, as secretary of state, he misled the public about
his role in the Ukrainian aid holdup that led to Trump’s impeachment.
Pompeo, too, engages in routine misstatements about Iran
specifically, including lies about Iranian nuclear research.
This is important because Pompeo has
become the public face of the administration on this issue. Although Pompeo
does not engage in the range of dishonest statements that Trump
does, his more focused dishonesty does include statements on Iran.
Fibbers’ forecasts are worthless
I vividly recall spending much of
the winter of 2002-2003 arguing with other college students about the
then-looming US invasion of Iraq.
In the strongly anti-Bush climate on
campus, one popular view was that the administration was simply lying about the
strength of its intelligence on Iraqi WMD programs.
I felt this was naive; the Bush team not only had direct access to the intelligence, but they were the ones pushing for an invasion that would, if it happened, end up exposing exactly what the state of those programs was.
It was preposterous to believe, as my anti-war friends did, that Bush’s team was deliberately engineering a series of events that would simply lead to them being utterly discredited.
I felt this was naive; the Bush team not only had direct access to the intelligence, but they were the ones pushing for an invasion that would, if it happened, end up exposing exactly what the state of those programs was.
It was preposterous to believe, as my anti-war friends did, that Bush’s team was deliberately engineering a series of events that would simply lead to them being utterly discredited.
This was, needless to say, flawed
logic on my part that was really driven home last night as Bush administration
officials Karl Rove and Ari Fleischer appeared on Sean Hannity’s program to
advocate for hawkish policy toward Iran.
It’s scary to contemplate the
possibility that the president would approach matters of war and peace with
roughly the level of honesty and forethought that he brings to vital issues
like Canadian edits of Home Alone 2.
Consequently, I understand the
psychological impulse to set aside years’ worth of Trump fact-checking and put
men with suits on television to explain what’s happening with their secret
intelligence. But this is a poor forecasting principle.
Back in May, there was a sudden outburst of enthusiasm about Trump’s nuclear diplomacy with Iran, complete with media scolding of churlish liberals who refused to give credit where due for a breakthrough. I was skeptical, based on the principle that you shouldn’t trust liars, and I was right.
Now the latest is that Trump’s Korean diplomacy has completely collapsed, but it’s being overshadowed by Iran news.
Back in May, there was a sudden outburst of enthusiasm about Trump’s nuclear diplomacy with Iran, complete with media scolding of churlish liberals who refused to give credit where due for a breakthrough. I was skeptical, based on the principle that you shouldn’t trust liars, and I was right.
Now the latest is that Trump’s Korean diplomacy has completely collapsed, but it’s being overshadowed by Iran news.
The sad fact of the matter is that
the world is a scary place. Powerful people lie, including about important matters.
They sometimes don’t get caught, and even when they do, they don’t always
suffer for it.
I hope there was some kind of good reason to bomb that Baghdad airport and some kind of plan to deal with the aftermath. But all we really know is that the people in charge of explaining to us what happened and why aren’t worthy of our trust.
I hope there was some kind of good reason to bomb that Baghdad airport and some kind of plan to deal with the aftermath. But all we really know is that the people in charge of explaining to us what happened and why aren’t worthy of our trust.