Letter to the editor: Lies and conspiracy theories now the norm?

Maybe it’s because we’ve been lied to by government officials so often over the years that we now accept lies as normal behavior.

From U-2 spy planes, Vietnam, Watergate, “Read my lips,” “I never had sex,” weapons of mass destruction and stolen elections, we have been lied to again and again. Is it any wonder that we find that the mirror image of lies has manifested in our willingness to, at the very least, consider the possibility of outrageous conspiracy theories as open to interpretation?

Was the moon landing staged? Did Hillary Clinton murder Vince Foster? Are surgeons implanting tracking chips during routine surgical procedures?

Maybe it’s because the current White House occupant has successfully merged the techniques of straight-faced lying with outrageous conspiracy theories that we are at this time and place where nothing is to be believed. But that doesn’t explain why he says he doesn’t understand the questions raised by his MAGA followers concerning the government’s files on Jeffrey Epstein. He fathered the lies and nurtured the conspiracy theories.

Reap what you sow? Chickens coming home to roost? Hoisted on one’s own petard?

Donald Trump began his political career questioning Barack Obama’s birthplace. He told and continues telling the Big Lie about the 2020 presidential election. He called those who attacked our nation’s Capitol “patriots” and then pardoned convicted criminals. He has made a career demeaning women, lying about it and denying truths we see with our own eyes.

And MAGA has until now swallowed it hook, line and sinker, always hungry for more. Enjoy your feast.

Glenn R. Plummer

Unity