Lowering the Standards for Lying.

In the old days, when we had higher standards, liars were obliged to limit themselves to plausible falsehoods, assertions that listeners would conceivably think might be true. In the culture that obtained then, if you lied, it would be against your interests to be caught. For Fascist types, such as presently abound in the Republican Party, this requirement has gone by the boards. Thus, the Republican National Committee feels free to characterize the Jan 6, 2021, insurrection as “ordinary citizens who engaged in legitimate political discourse,” even though anyone who has the slightest acquaintance with what happened that day knows that this is a lie. We don’t have to find the true facts that cause the liar to be “caught.” The true facts are in plain sight and a matter of public record.

The custom among Republicans now, which is right out of the authoritarian playbook, is to not concern yourself with whether your lie can be shown to be false. Just keep repeating it no matter how obvious it is that it’s false. Repeat, repeat, and repeat, preferably in an indignant tone of voice. Accuse people who point out the true facts of lying. Try to intimidate them into shutting up, so they don’t interfere with your spreading your lie, repeating it and amplifying it until more people believe it.