Update: The letter was published in the News-Press on Sunday, April 7, 2019.
Pundits wonder why Donald Trump lies so frequently. Perhaps,
they suggest, he can't help himself – it's in his nature, a genetic trait or
something. Mysterious to pundits too is how forgiving his base is about his
repetitive falsehoods. They marvel at the sustained loyalty of his followers
despite his constant prevarications. To quote Rogers and Hammerstein, "is
a puzzlement."
Pundits are even more befuddled about why Trump lies about
facts that are both meaningless and readily refutable. For example, his claims
about his golfing prowess turn out to be a tissue (that is, a scorecard) of
lies, the result of grandscale cheating. Who cares – except, presumably, Donald
Trump – about his handicap? Dwight
Eisenhower, an avid golfer, commanded us to victory over Germany and governed
us for eight solid years and yet never found it necessary to fib about his
skill at striking a sphere along a lawn.
Trump's latest odd and silly lie – that his father, Fred, was born in Germany – is a
"fact" he's repeated many times, including a few days ago to the
NATO Secretary General. In fact
(emphasis intended) Fred Trump was born in New York, well within the gestation
period after his mother's arrival in the United States.
You'd think, after all the attention Trump spent investigating
the birthplace of his presidential predecessor, he'd take care to speak
accurately of his father's. But no. Apparently, to Trump, it's more important
that he not admit to being the offspring of an anchor baby.
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