Granted, politicians have always played rather fast and loose with the truth, attempting to magnify their achievements and explain away their shortcomings. In modern times, they have been ably assisted by spin doctors (aka Communications Officers), creative wordsmiths skilled in the art of obfuscation.
In recent decades, however, the truth has been stretched beyond recognition as politicians have increasingly used ideology rather than facts as a basis for decision making. I was particularly conscious of this tendency during the Mike Harris regime in Ontario (1995-2002) in connection with its fervent pursuit of municipal amalgamations. The Harris Government continued to insist that amalgamations were necessary to eliminate unnecessary duplication and cut costs – while blissfully ignoring the large body of research demonstrating that no such savings would occur.
The unwillingness to consider facts contrary to political ideology was also very evident at the federal level through the time of the Conservative Government of Stephen Harper. He could never permit the words climate change to escape his lips and ensured that any serious discussion of this issue would not ensue by restricting what civil servants were allowed to say in public. It is extraordinary that during this period scientists employed by the federal government were not even allowed to discuss their own research papers published in scholarly journals except, perhaps, on the basis of talking points provided by staff in the PMO (the all-powerful Prime Minister’s Office that imposed Harper’s dictates on the civil service – and on fellow Conservative MPs.)
Taking Comfort in Truthiness
All of these disturbing events however pale in comparison to the assault on the truth that has been unfolding recently and has “blossomed” with the rise to power of Donald Trump. With the growing polarization of American society (discussed in an earlier blog) citizens are increasingly inclined to seek out views that conform to their own beliefs. They no longer look to a variety of news sources to educate themselves about issues. Indeed, the newspaper industry is in general decline and the major television networks are rejected as too left or right leaning, depending on one’s own perspective. In their place are a number of Internet websites that purvey a particular point of view on issues, allowing citizens to find information that conforms to, and reinforces, whatever biases they hold.
As a result, “truthiness” has increasingly replaced truth. This term was associated with Sarah Palin, a darling of the Tea Party movement and the candidate for VP on the ticket in the 2008 presidential election. It essentially means what you want the facts to be, as opposed to what the facts are. It expresses what feels like the right answer to someone, as opposed to what is supported by reality, by actual facts.
Alternate Facts in the Post-Truth World
The latest step is this degradation of truth has arrived with Donald Trump. We now live in a bizarre, surreal, “post-truth” world, in which the truth is whatever Trump wants it to be, even needs it to be, to satisfy his views and his image of himself. When one of Trump’s senior advisers spoke of the administration releasing “alternative facts,” sales exploded for the George Orwell book 1984, famous for its depiction of the Ministry of Truth that existed to disseminate lies.
The mendacity of Trump is remarkable because he sticks to statements even when there is documented evidence, including film footage, to the contrary. Thus, for example, he continues to insist that he had record crowds at his inaugural that stretched well beyond the Lincoln Memorial, even though films of the event show otherwise. He claims over and over that there were three to five million illegal votes for Hillary Clinton because his ego cannot accept that his opponent won the popular vote. He is launching an investigation into widespread voter fraud in spite of zero evidence of any such abuse. Indeed, his own colleagues had denied there was evidence of voter fraud when opposing a recount request on this basis from the Green Party candidate for President. Daniel Dale of the Toronto Star, who has had almost a full time job tracking incorrect statements from Donald Trump recently documented 11 falsehoods uttered by the President in his first major TV interview.
Equally worrying in this “post-truth” world is the savage attack on the media by Stephen Bannon, Trump’s chief White House strategist, who repeatedly referred to the media as “the opposition” and told them to keep their mouth shut for a while. (Spiro Agnew, Nixon’s VP from 1968-1972, was at least more colourful when he denounced critical media as “nattering nabobs of negativity.”)
The First Amendment is at least as Important as the Second
We began with a quote from history and we will conclude with one as well – the statement that “a lie can travel half way round the world while the truth is putting on its shoes.” This has been attributed to a number of people, including Mark Twain and (over 300 years ago) Jonathan Swift, the author of Gulliver’s Travels. If Trump and his people are successful in discrediting the mainstream media and if citizens increasingly depend upon incessant and mendacious tweets from the President for their news, truth will be an increasingly scarce commodity. One can only hope that Americans will defend the first amendment of their constitution (freedom of the press) with even half of the commitment they exhibit for the second amendment (the right to bear arms).