The Big Ball falls at midnight, representing the beginning of 2019. Just think if it was filled with Trump’s lies. If they were the size of a gumball, they would weigh the flimsy ball down. If they were the size of a softball, they wouldn’t fit, there are so many thousands of them. The Washington Post has a Fact Checker’s database which keeps a catalog of all Trump’s lies. For example, in the seven weeks leading up the midterm elections, the current occupant made 1,419 false or misleading claims — an average of 30 a day. That’s pretty good. Assuming he was awake 16 hours, that’s one every thirty minutes. Here’s a lie from this morning.
I’m in the Oval Office. Democrats, come back from vacation now and give us the votes necessary for Border Security, including the Wall. You voted yes in 2006 and 2013. One more yes, but with me in office, I’ll get it built, and Fast!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 31, 2018
The inference is clear. He wants the base to know that their *resident is working hard for them, not even taking off New Year’s Eve. No, Sir, he’s on the job. Except that he’s not.
POTUS tweet minutes ago claimed he was in the Oval Office. No marine there so that’s another lie. @realDonaldTrump pic.twitter.com/rnJnQt88HO
— Brian J. Karem (@BrianKarem) December 31, 2018
Maybe the Marines are screwing up and that’s why the guard isn’t at his post. Or, maybe Mick Mulvaney has decided to change security protocols. Or, maybe Trump is just telling a bald-faced self serving lie. Again.
Think of how life in Washington would change dramatically if Trump had only one New Year’s resolution, not to lie anymore. But I don’t think he even knows he’s lying. Fabricating reality comes so easily to him, like breathing to the rest of us. It’s now becoming an old saw around Washington, first there was Washington who could not tell a lie, then there was Nixon who could not tell the truth, now there is Trump, who cannot tell the difference.
This much is certain — Trump spends an awful lot of time thinking about his wall. Or, his metaphor, if you want to use Lindsey Graham’s formulation. 2019 is the Year of the Pig in the Chinese calendar, but in Trump’s lexicon, it is the Year of the Wall. And a fascinating year it’s going to be.
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