There are fundamental ways we all know when someone is getting ready to lie to us or has just told us a whopper. One is when someone begins a sentence with the phrase, “To tell you the truth…” the other is when someone ends a statement with, “Believe me.” These are just two of the most obvious and well known psychological examples of how speech and the mind work in unison to signal that someone is lying. These two phrases are so smarmy that even the most uncouth used car salesmen have dropped them from their lexicon.

I bring this up as the man, who at the moment is the President of the United States, constantly and repeatedly ends virtually every declaration with, “…believe me.” He very often says it twice, or three times in succession and with a great deal of bravado. It is as if he’s letting us know that even he knows he is full of shit.

As far as the “Believe me” line is concerned, everybody knows how to spot bullshit. Saying “Believe me” is like wearing a red baseball cap that in white letters reads: “I’m full of shit.” However, in case the “Believe me” line isn’t enough of a clue as to how full of shit this guy remains, there are those who can just take a cursory look at some recent American history. The fact is…we DO NOT believe you Donnie.  

When has this man ever told the truth? He makes Tricky Dick sound like Honest Abe. The same people who support this man were outraged when Bill Clinton lied about sex. They demanded that he be impeached and removed from office. They got one out of two of those wishes. The American people didn’t want him removed, but the right-wing outrage over a sitting President who doesn’t tell the truth was on the lips of every one of these hypocrites. Where are these paragons of truth now?

Respected daily newspapers across the country are now wrestling with the idea that these lies really don’t need to be reported. The obvious and provable lies continue to spew forth from this demented demagogue at such an alarming rate that America’s bullshit meter is at it’s breaking point.

Should anyone even waste time commenting or reflecting on this bizarre phenomenon? The answer is yes and no.

Yes, because he is the President of the United States and what he says is news. No, because his statements are, at best, almost always misleading and just as likely an outright obvious and provable, bold-faced lie. Furthermore, he does not represent the American people, our thoughts, our mood or our values.

The question the public is left to grapple with is whether or not this man is really mentally unsound or are these lies part of an overall strategy of deception and distraction? I will suggest that the two are not mutually exclusive of one another. The American people, and quite frankly the entire world, are left wondering how low he will go and how far into the depths of depravity we must watch this horror show sink.

The latest outburst by Trump includes his now infamous Tweets which included videos from a tiny British, right wing fringe group. They depict supposed Islamic extremists behaving badly. By the time I “publish” this piece he will have outdone even this crazed outburst, which also just happened to be anywhere from highly misleading to provably untrue. It was also unnecessary and of course as always…racist and inflammatory. It is impossible to keep up with this man’s infantile tantrums.

This guy has a following of Americans who still support him despite the raging wild fire burning his suit pants. This man’s pants have been on fire…well since he started wearing pants. His well-documented and long history of fraudulent business dealings reveals a man who is more gangster than entrepreneur. He reminds me of a Bond villain.

Now that he has gone from corporate criminal to President of the United States we are to believe that this seventy-one-year-old man will change. He hasn’t obviously and his unlikely ascension to the highest office in the land only intensifies the spotlight on him and reveals to the world what anyone who has had business dealings with him already knows; which is that he is a fraud, a charlatan, a con man and the biggest and most prolific liar anyone has ever encountered. He has no moral compass, no code of ethics and no shame. This combined with his school yard bully demeaner, laziness and limited intellectual curiosity is a very bad combination of character flaws for anybody. For the President of the United States it is unprecedented and of course embarrassing.

Now, as it turns out, his former National Security Adviser and campaign adviser has pleaded guilty to “knowingly and willingly” making “false, fictitious and fraudulent” statements to the FBI. This is a “no, no” or, as we call it here in ‘Merca, a felony. How Trump will respond to this is anybody’s guess, but I do know whatever he says will come served up with a gigantic steaming pile of bullshit…believe me.

- David Mac