Lies: The Implementation (Part 3)
When I first wrote Lies: The Tool of Tyrants and Dictators (Part 1) and Lies: Weapons of Mass Destruction (Part 2) back in February 2020 before the pandemic fully set in and before the events leading up to and after the election in 2020, I honestly did not anticipate writing a Part 3 because I did not anticipate how what would soon follow would be a living example of the use of a “big lie” to install an authoritarian with a “big lie” being one of the primary tools to purify and consolidate the ranks in a way that was not possible earlier.
It was clear then that lying about everything had been a hallmark of the Trump presidency and that these lies served another purpose. They were not conveniently misrepresenting reality. These lies were serving as loyalty tests for those around him as I explained in Part 1.
It was something I had seen before as a kid — a two-bit dictator standing before a group of adults — lying while those adults stood by silently and nodded in agreement to things that were obviously untrue.
As a kid, this was puzzling and I “put a pin in it” to remember it so that maybe I would be able to understand what they were doing and why.
It was like de ja vu as I watched adults doing the same thing but in this country — all at the service of then-President Trump.
Adults throughout this country were defending a guy who could not tell the truth if his life depended on it. Christians supported a guy that if he was God-sent, was God’s easiest test ever because He sent the living embodiment of everything that Christians had been taught to be against — and yet here he was with their support.
But I started to understand what was happening — there was a lot of noise because one could get distracted about the nature of each lie and the consequences to affected people if the lie was part of an attack.
After watching this for a while, I realized that the only people who lied like this were tyrants and they lied all the time about everything for reasons I explain more in Part 1 — but the bottom line is that these are mini loyalty tests. He is looking for a crack in their loyalty because to these guys (and they are mostly men so far) loyalty is far more important than competence. Competency can be a negative to them because, as individuals, their goal is power, and people with competency and skills can expose them.
In part 2, I explained how these loyalty tests were important because they would identify the loyal and put them in places throughout the government or organization to carry out what the leader wants them to do — without consideration of anything else.
It is here where I explain why this eventually and always becomes a weapon of mass destruction for the organizations or governments being led by these people. As competency is replaced by loyalty, the organization becomes disconnected from reality — a situation that is not sustainable over the long haul. Reality will always win.
This was all before the lies of a “stolen election” after the election and the events of January 6th in which there were near universal condemnations initially — even those more closely involved tried to pin it on other organizations like the FBI and Antifa because the actions were so abhorrent.
This was before the shock and the initial reaction wore off and people who pushed what became known as the “Big Lie” began to embrace those who were arrested, tried, and convicted for their actions on January 6th and who now call them political prisoners or victims. Some even suggested that the events of the day were peaceful and more like tourists visiting.
So we are now at the point where the would-be-tyrant and his followers have something that they did not have before — a singular Big Lie — to use to sort those who are truly faithful to Dear Leader and those who are more loyal to conservative policies, principles and the Constitution itself.
And they are using it.
There are reports that the Republican National Committee, now co-chaired by this daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, and another Trump loyalist (Michael Whatley) quickly purged more than normal as Trump became the presumptive nominee. Some people interviewing for their old positions have been asked about their thoughts on the 2020 election.
Loyalty is of primary concern and some are applauding efforts to purge those who are not loyalists from the ranks.
This is important because this is not a matter of principles or policy. It is loyalty to a person above all else.
The big lie has now become part of a big sort within conservative circles. To be clear, Trump will continue to lie about everything for the reasons stated in Part 1 — but now there is a Big Lie that can become the primary filter to screen people out as other GOP organizations look to interview and prefill roles with the expectation of a win in 2024.
The well-funded Heritage Foundation is reportedly screening and gathering names of people as part of their Project 2025 initiative. While they have traditionally been involved in staffing, this is different.
“In 2016, the conservative movement was not prepared to flood the zone with conservative personnel,” Dr. Roberts said. “On Jan. 20, 2025, things will be very different. This database will prepare an army of vetted, trained staff to begin dismantling the administrative state from Day 1.”
So from Part 2 of Lies: Weapons of Mass Destruction, we can see where they are working, in an organized way, to install loyalists at all levels of government and they are planning to go far beyond the “normal”.
This is exactly what I outlined in the Parts 2. The lies are constant loyalty tests and these loyalty tests are important because they are used to put the loyal into key positions so that the despot can take over the system.
And there are at least two elements that should concern us about their plan:
1. They are openly saying that they are going to “dismantle” the administrative state. The administrative state is the non-political part of the government that provides regulations and consistency from administration. They will purge those with actual competency and knowledge and replace them with “know-nothing loyalists”. We have seen it before in the latter stages of the Trump Presidency when he wanted to promote Jeffrey Clark to Attorney General even though he lacked the professional qualifications, he was a loyalist who was helping Trump try to overthrow the election results.
2. Loyalty over competency will always end badly because the real world will always catch up. It may take a while but eventually, things collapse. Collapse in this case could be ugly and brutal as both a nation but it will have significant global ramifications.
What we are talking about is a full and total take over by Trump and his loyalists. (I am not saying Republican because that can also imply conservative and what is happening here is not consistent with historical conservative values and policies.)
And to be clear, the rule of law as we have known it will cease to function because the regulatory and executive branches (which would be required to carry out court decisions) will be playing favorites while punishing perceived enemies who are just people and organizations with whom they disagreed. We have already seen an example of this mentality in Florida when DeSantis specifically targeted Disney as a result of policy disagreements. Now imagine that many times over through other media companies and what they broadcast, through other businesses that rely on the fair and impartial enforcement of regulations, and the list is endless.
While these people decry big government, policies set generally are to further a specific goal — for example — no one can pollute water. While that may seem punitive to big polluters, a standard is set for and must be abided by everyone. That is historically where we have landed.
But, if Trump wins, we will end up in a world where corruption becomes normal. Legitimate businesses can not survive because the ones participating in the corruption will be given special favors and unfair advantages — and get away with it.
It will not only end democracy — it will end capitalism.
With one party playing favorites this way and businesses needing to pay to play, the government will determine winners and losers — not the market. It will effectively be a takeover and control of businesses by the government.
While so much discussion has been made about the impact of a second Trump Presidency on Democracy, business leaders need to be concerned about what a second Trump Presidency would mean to them. Do they want their fate and future to be determined on the whim of government officials based on whether they are in or out of favor with those same officials?
It is all on the line this election. Everything.
