It is painfully obvious that the standards for truth have declined in America since 2015. Anyone who believes otherwise is certifiably delusional. Instead of making America great again, the MAGA movement has weakened America by converting public discourse into a chaotic propaganda war.
We have all fallen down the rabbit hole of mendacity. Instead of standing up for the truth, most of us have fallen into the trap of tribal warfare. Truth is more than just the accuracy of a particular statement; truth also does not hide uncomfortable evidence. Truth should be balanced towards, well, truth, not towards distortion or winning a political battle. Shouldn’t we be better at truth-seeking?
As Fox Business said on April 3, 2025, Trump’s Liberation Day is bringing the world the most devastating tariff war since the Great Depression, according to Thomas Sowell, the legendary economist from the Hoover Institute. Except for the mendacious MAGA universe, everyone knows that Trump has lied about his tariff successes. He said he had concluded 200 successful tariff negotiations despite the fact that there are only 195 countries on THIS planet. I stand corrected if he concluded negotiations with the penguins on those remote islands.
Trump said he regularly discussed the Chinese tariffs with General Secretary Xi, but the Chinese say that no discussions have occurred. For the first time that I can recall, it seems the word of a Communist dictator should be trusted over the word of an American president.
To cite another example from thousands of others, the March 27 headline of the website RedState said, “NY Dem’s Latest Move Is a Blatant Attempt to Ruin Tesla Solely Because of Elon Musk’s Ties to Trump.” In reality, a New York State Senator named Patricia Fahy introduced legislation to remove the “sweetheart Tesla loophole.”
What is the Tesla loophole? It is a little complicated, but not really.
In freedom-loving California, there are about 70 Tesla locations where you can purchase a new Tesla. In New York, there are FIVE. In Alabama, Kansas, South Carolina, Texas, and West Virginia, there are NONE. What is this all about?
While some far-left politicians may be out to get poor Elon Musk, the Tesla dealership issue goes beyond Mr. Chainsaw. Many states have always banned Tesla’s direct sales approach (i.e., manufacturer-owned new car dealerships): Alabama, South Carolina, New Mexico, West Virginia, Kansas, Louisiana, Texas, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Iowa, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. Like many state-controlled issues (e.g., liquor sales), some states require locally owned automobile dealerships to purchase cars.
In reality, the disadvantaged potential buyers can purchase Teslas by going out of state or using the internet. It is like the abortion issue. If you want a Tesla in Texas, click your heels, wink, and go to another state. This is the actual process in Texas:
“These laws make it illegal to buy a car from Tesla in person, at a Tesla Gallery. Thus, all Texas orders are taken via the internet or over the phone. Texas residents can still easily buy a car from Tesla, but the purchase is handled as an out-of-state transaction and must be completed before the vehicle ships to Texas. Tesla recently added the ability to include tax, title, license, and registration in the sale price of the car so the purchaser doesn’t have to pay that separately once they receive the vehicle. In 2015, Tesla lobbied the Texas Legislature to modify the law to allow Tesla to sell directly to consumers, and specifically allow Tesla employees to discuss “financing, leasing, or purchasing options” at the firm’s existing galleries in Austin, Dallas, and Houston. Texas considered legislation in 2015 to allow Tesla to operate in the state but legislation was not passed.” Source: Wikipedia
Weirdly, Mr. Chainsaw continues to say that he is moving Tesla’s headquarters to Texas, which doesn’t allow direct Tesla sales. However, despite all the hot air, Tesla’s headquarters remain in Palo Alto, California.
New York State Senator Fahy wants to cancel Tesla’s monopoly on the five offices allowed to sell NEW automobiles using a direct-to-consumer model. She wants to enable other automakers (e.g., Lucid and Rivian) to compete for the FIVE direct-to-consumer sales locations. One could say that this is payback for Musk’s $300 million donation to Trump’s MAGA, but one could also say that Senator Fahy is trying to level the EV playing field. Don’t conservatives believe in competition or truth any longer?
Truth is elusive and probably unattainable in its purest form. However, I think we can recognize when we drift into the twilight zone of mendacity. When we realize that we are beginning to shade the truth and ignore uncomfortable facts, the music from the television show, The Twilight Zone, should go off in our minds.
No person, nationality, or group is immune from mendacity. However, since 2015, mendacity has hit rock bottom. The lies emanating from the MAGA world are so blatant and preposterous that even children recognize them. The leading wind behind this mendacity has been Trump, his MAGA allies, and those who once called themselves conservatives.
In an October 14, 2024, issue of the National Review, Jay Nordlinger said:
“What do these people [The Gateway Pundit, a far-right news website] have to do with William F. Buckley Jr. or George F. Will, to say nothing of Michael Oakeshott or Edmund Burke? I realize that language is in the hands of the people. But conservatism ought not to be equated with populist buffoonery and mendacity.”
“If Bill Buckley and Alex Jones share the descriptor “conservative,” the word is meaningless.”
At the core of the very successful MAGA revolution is the conversion of conservative Americans into MAGA Americans or CINOs (conservatives in name only) who favor mendacity over truth.
William F. Buckley, Ronald Reagan, Barry Goldwater, and Antonin Scalia must be rolling in their graves.