The Big Lie

The big lie (German: große Lüge) is a propaganda technique. The expression was coined by Adolf Hitler, when he dictated his 1925 book Mein Kampf, about the use of a lie so colossal that no one would believe that someone could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously. Hitler claimed the technique was used by the Jews to blame Germany’s loss in World War I.

The lie is repeated ad nauseam, from as many sources as possible. By drowning out the truth, it turns the lie into a false consensus. The right have refined this technique with the echo chamber where the lie is endlessly ping-ponged between a group of people on the Internet to create the illusion it is the majority opinion.

Trump makes blatant use of the big lie. For example, he claims the media never report anything positive about him. Yet he is on the air more than any other person by far. If he never mentions any positive accomplishments, he has only himself to blame. He routinely claims he never said something even when there is video tape of him saying it e.g. calling for the invasion of Iraq. He persists in his lie, over and over and over. Very often he claims black is white, with no attempt at all to hide the falsehood of his claim. For example, he happily claimed to have won the biggest electoral college majority since Reagan. This is a matter of public record, and it is simply not true. Yet Trump persisted over and over in his lie. Ditto the size of the crowd at his inauguration. He even lied about the weather at his inauguration, trying to make it sound as if his presidency were divinely anointed.

These are pointless petty lies. They indicate he is an out-of-control compulsive liar who is also lying about everything of consequence as well. His staff work hard to keep him from issuing utterly preposterous lies that cannot be cleaned up, only excused as mistakes. But when he persists in his lies, they can’t even be written off as errors. He breaks promises such as revealing his income tax, or divesting his wealth then pretends he never made any such promises even when nearly everybody heard the promise direct from his own lips.

When the lies are so obvious, why do people believe them, Hitler’s or Trump’s? Because they can’t face the humiliation and the horror of discovering they were wrong. They would sooner kid themselves and indulge in wishful thinking than face facts, or even do some research. They simply don’t want to know.

~ Roedy (1948-02-04 age:70)