Pt. 2 - LA Times Series - "Why Trump Lies"
http://www.latimes.com/projects/la-ed-why-trump-lies/
" ... The insult that Donald Trump brings to the equation is an apparent disregard for fact so profound as to suggest that he may not see much practical distinction between lies, if he believes they serve him, and the truth.
His approach succeeds because of his preternaturally deft grasp of his audience. Though he is neither terribly articulate nor a seasoned politician, he has a remarkable instinct for discerning which conspiracy theories in which quasi-news source, or which of his own inner musings, will turn into ratings gold. He targets the darkness, anger and insecurity that hide in each of us and harnesses them for his own purposes. If one of his lies doesnt work well, then he lies about that ..."
and ...
" ... But he is not merely amusing. He is dangerous. His choice of falsehoods and his method of spewing them often in tweets, as if he spent his days and nights glued to his bedside radio and was periodically set off by some drivel uttered by a talk show host who repeated something hed read on some fringe blog are a clue to Trumps thought processes and perhaps his lack of agency. He gives every indication that he is as much the gullible tool of liars as he is the liar in chief.
He has made himself the stooge, the mark, for every crazy blogger, political quack, racial theorist, foreign leader or nutcase peddling a story that he might repackage to his benefit as a tweet, an appointment, an executive order or a policy. He is a stranger to the concept of verification, the insistence on evidence and the standards of proof that apply in a courtroom or a medical lab and that ought to prevail in the White House ..."
(emphases mine) 4 part series this week, more coming ...
PART 1: "Our Dishonest President" >
http://www.latimes.com/projects/la-ed-our-dishonest-president/