Interesting take on why Trump's staff lies.

[kstewart33]

Tyler Cohen:

By requiring subordinates to speak untruths, a leader can undercut their independent standing, including their standing with the public, with the media and with other members of the administration. That makes those individuals grow more dependent on the leader and less likely to mount independent rebellions against the structure of command. Promoting such chains of lies is a classic tactic when a leader distrusts his subordinates and expects to continue to distrust them in the future.

Another reason for promoting lying is what economists sometimes call loyalty filters. If you want to ascertain if someone is truly loyal to you, ask them to do something outrageous or stupid. If they balk, then you know right away they aren’t fully with you. That too is a sign of incipient mistrust within the ruling clique, and it is part of the same worldview that leads Trump to rely so heavily on family members.

In this view, loyalty tests are especially frequent for new hires and at the beginning of new regimes, when the least is known about the propensities of subordinates. You don’t have to view President Trump as necessarily making a lot of complicated calculations, rather he may simply be replicating tactics that he found useful in his earlier business and media careers.

Link: https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2017-01-23/why-trump-s-staff-is-lying

[frazzled]

1. The mark of a despot

There's another classic fascist tactic going on here as well: bombarding the public with lies and a barrage of dramatic edicts and proposals from the get go. It gives signal to the public that things will not be business as usual, and that they are helpless in the face of these enforced changes.

But the US government is a big place. It's not corporate headquarters. Already the place is leaking like a sieve, and more and more government employees will be fighting the loyalty pledges. You can keep your closest aides and advisors in tow, but it will be impossible for him to stem the tide of unrest from the entire government workforce.

This is going to get interesting. And real soon.

[bettyellen]

2. See the same shit in corporate America all the time ... loyalty and CYA for the boss and never speak

Up when you see issues. Surest way to rise to the top at some places.