“…Of course, for a Democratic Party warning that Mr. Trump is an existential threat to the nation, the race is about something much simpler: winning.” Shane Goldmacher, The New York Times July 6, 2025.
“…the president’s prime-time interview with ABC News was an exercise in not just damage control but reality control”. Peter Baker, The New York Times July 6, 2025.
“You really see a president in denial and in a bubble,” Julián Castro, The New York Times July 6, 2025.
“[The interview] will not quell the growing anger and resentment among Democrats.”Paul Begala The New York Times July 6, 2025.
Perhaps at this point it would be fitting to quote football coach Vince Lombardi, who reportedly said “Wining isn’t everything, it’s the only thing”. That, in reality, is the sentiment that Democratic Party officials are expressing.
You can take all faux agonizing and focus group crafted statements of the past several years and chuck them in the bin. They are finally saying what they really mean: Winning is all that matters. In this they have conclusively demonstrated that they are pretty much the same as Donald J Trump. The heated denials that will surely follow that statement are a testament to its truth.
Consider what it means when politicians put a priority on winning at all costs. Truth telling necessarily becomes subordinate to winning. Arguably, truth is not even a consideration. For example, “I will build a wall and Mexico will pay for it” was an absurdity marketed by Mr Trump.
When special counsel Robert Hur accurateley described Biden as a “sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory” VP Kamala Harris charged out to say “So, the way that the president’s demeanor in that report was characterized could not be more wrong on the facts and clearly politically motivated, gratuitous…” Another obvious lie. Which also explains why AG Garland refused to release the interview tapes, duly and lawfully subpoenaed by Congress. Rule of Law and all that.
Another infamous quotation of Donald J Trump: “When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. …They’re sending people that have lots of problems, … They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.” Donald J Trump
How about this story in Politico: “More than 50 former senior intelligence officials have signed on to a letter outlining their belief that the recent disclosure of emails allegedly belonging to Joe Biden’s son “has all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation.”
It turns out that that letter was arranged by now Secretary of State Anthony Blinkin. And it was released on the eve of the first Presidential debate in 2020. And it was clearly a lie.
Of course, let’s not forget Mr. Trump’s attempt to overturn the 2020 election results on January 6, 2021. In the speech in which he whipped up the crowd he said “I know that everyone here will soon be marching over to the Capitol building to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard.” Peacefully and patriotically. Sure.
Some were going to hang Mike Pence. Peacefully, of course.
And when a mob of progressives chased Senator Krysten Sinema into a ladies room and then stormed in after her because she didn’t support the latest progressive legislation, President Biden said it was “all part of the process”. Ditto for Senator Joe Manchin when a group of kayakers confronted him on his houseboat.
And Mr Biden has yet to be heard from on the subject of Supreme Court Justice Kavanaugh being stalked by an armed man outside his home. Perhaps being stalked by an armed potential aggressor is all part of the process.
The list of strategic lies told by both parties is endless. Supporting one side or the other (it doesn’t matter which) regardless of obvious transgressions is a perfect example of willful blindness. Citizens who rely on the rationale that the other guy is such a threat reward the practice.
Without a commitment to truth there is no accountability. And without accountability, democracy is nothing more than a cause for hollow laughter. Elections within certain limits specified by the U.S. Constitution, are supposed to facilitate a collective decision making process. Elections are not supposed to be about winning at all costs.
Try telling that to partisans who are perfectly willing to believe anything, however improbable, as long as it supports “the Cause”.
JFB
