Dear Mr. President, You are lying to the American people and I know it.
You know how I know you’re lying? Because I also know you are smart. If you were a bumbling buffoon, you wouldn’t have won the White House, beating the Clinton/DNC and RNC Politcal Machinery. Not just beating them, beating them using strategy, pure and simple. You spent less money, while subsidizing your losses the whole way through. You had a significantly smaller organization, and were using tactics so unconventional no one seemed to understand them. You’re smart, and that’s how I know that you know you’re lying to the American Public.
While everyone assumed you were aiming wildly, and hitting nothing, you knew all along that your message- or lack thereof- was resonating with a large percentage of the population, precisely in places that could undermine the Democratic stronghold over Union and Labor heavy states, like Michigan and Pennsylvania. You also knew that the more the media vilified you, the more of a deity you’d become. You saw what no one was willing to see or pay attention to: A large percentage of the American Populace felt disenfranchised and under represented, by either party and wanted change desperately.
You knew that these people had little use for factual evidence, studies, statistics or anything of that nature. They were feeling something first hand, that no statistic, fact or piece of research could assuage. Some were feeling a loss of privilege, which often times feels like being underprivileged, although the two are not the same thing. While others, in midwest towns and rust belt factory towns, had genuinely been underprivileged, often times by republicans in the name of “small government” or at times by Democrats, at the hand of “union” politics and corruption.
You also knew that people love a circus. You’ve run your businesses on that assumption, and it’s seldom proven wrong. People love to hate a good villain, while some people love to cheer for a good villain. People love a spectacle, and hyperbole is part of the game. You knew that most people coming from Mexico are good people, and not rapists, drug dealers and worse. You also knew that to make your strategy stick, you had to dig into these hyperboles. Feelings over fact, always. You’re smart. Brilliant Strategy.
Problem is, you got the job. Now the job is to be president. You’re smart, you should be able to do this. However, what was once hyperbole on the campaign trail is now actual presidential decree, with consequences far wider reaching. What you are doing now can only be called lying, because to assume you and your administration are simply making this many mistakes with the factual record of events that have transpired is to denigrate the intelligence of a man who is now the most powerful man on the planet.
Today, February 7th 2017, you literally accused the media of purposely not covering terror attacks. Then you released a list of 78 such attacks, to prove your point. On that list are several attacks that were covered exhaustively. From Paris, to San Bernadino to Nice, there are several that literally dominated the world media stage for days on end. You know that. You were alive and existed then, and even discussed the attacks with the media when they happened. You aren’t confused. You are lying. Again, to assume otherwise is to assume you don’t remember conversations you had with the media 2 years ago, or statements you posted on Twitter in the last 2 years. That would mean you’re either seriously mentally unstable, or that you are aware of the facts but choose to ignore them. This is called lying. Plain and simple.
When your administration refers to “massacres” that didn’t happen, that is a lie. Unless of course you would rather we assume you hire people who don’t know the difference between reality and fiction, in which case you’d be an idiot. Which you aren’t. You’re smart. You’re smart, and you’re lying to us. You’re lying to us because you know the people you’re speaking to will believe every word you say. You know that, much as in the campaign, the media vilifying you now only makes you words more true to the people that support you. The Problem is, Mr. President, that you are my President too. I do fact check what you say, and I know it is not true. I also know that you are not unintelligent, or stupidly handing over power to your cabinet. Since I know these things I have no choice but to assume that you, my President, are lying to me. I must assume that your use of “alternative facts” is nothing but a veneer for you to create your own narrative, absent of facts that back it up.
My mother always told me, “lies have very short legs, so they run fast, but they can’t get very far.” I am asking you to stop lying to me, because I am also smart. I am ready to combat every ounce of alternative facts you have, with actual facts. I am ready to discuss every crazy “idea” you have using actual numbers, and logic. I am ready to do that because I know you’re smart, and lying to me. I also believe in free market ideals in this scenario, and I happen to know that historically speaking, actual democracy and transparency has proven far more successful than opressive authoritarianism. Since you’re lying to me, I am left with no option but to confront you with the truth. It is my job, as a citizen now -apparently- to tell my President to STOP LYING TO MY FACE.
Stop lying about crowd sizes, stop lying about your conversations with foreign leaders, stop lying about how “smoothly” your administration is running, stop lying about election fraud, stop lying about illegal immigration, stop lying about the Muslim ban, stop lying about your conflicts of interest, stop lying about the press colluding with terrorists, stop lying about the judiciary branch. Stop lying, just stop it. We see it, we’re smart, and we’re not backing down. I am a citizen, writing a letter to my President. I believe I speak for more than a few people when I say, stop lying to us.
Of course, your other option would be to continue down this path, of lies, of diversion tactics and reality show style drama. This would leave the rest of us with no choice but to voice our dissent, loudly, clearly, en masse, and constantly. You cannot rule a people who do not want to be ruled, that’s why were Americans. We believe in a government “for the people, by the people”.
You know this though, because you are smart. It’s also because you are smart, that I assume you’ll understand that until you treat your job, and the American people with the respect that they deserve, we will only grow louder, bolder and more determined to demonstrate what truly makes America great. You cannot stop progress, and love trumps hate every time. You will not silence us, you will not make us question our convictions and morals. We have truth, facts, and reality on our side.
We are a country founded on an ideal, of freedom and equality, even if at times that ideal has been but a horizon off in the distance, that we navigate towards but never reach. You clearly do not believe in these values, that is your right as a person. Your beliefs are your own. However, these are the values that make America great. They are the values that allowed your family to come and prosper here, along with millions of other families from every part of the globe. I feel sorry for you Mr. President, because only a weak, ineffective and untalented individual relies on lies and pageantry to make their point. They do so because they know the truth is not in their favor. You know that though, you’re smart. You choose however, to lie to us, and in doing so undermine the very country you purport to want to make “great again”. Please, Mr. President. Stop lying to us.
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