Seriously But Not Literally

While watching the news and interview shows, including the Sunday morning political shows, the last few days one thing stood out above all others. That is that Trump's minions are constantly doing damage control and trying to explain what The Donald really meant. 

An operative phrase during Trump's campaign and now the transition period was/is "take Trump seriously but not literally". What the fuck does that mean? It is a pretty good definition of an oxymoron. We should take what he says as a serious statement except when it is not. There is no rhyme or reason as to when we should apply the serious label as opposed to the not literal label. It's a completely random crap shoot and complete BS.

This ambiguity is one of Trump's main techniques. Say something that can be interrupted multiple ways and let people read into it what suits their views and prejudices. If the majority of people interpret the statement negatively, he or his spokespeople say he was kidding or it is not to be taken literally. That's a very clever ploy. Trump can never be wrong. 

He said there were millions of illegal votes in California but had no proof. That's why he lost the popular vote. VP-elect Pence now says Trump was actually referring to voter fraud in general and not specifically to California. So I assume that means our president-elect is not capable of articulating a general concept and must use false specific statements, that we are not to take literally, to make his point. We get to read his mind and intent.

PolitiFact and FactCheck both estimated that 70% of what came out of Trump's mouth during the campaign was partially or completely false. That's a lot of "not literally" shit. The other interpretation is that he believed the BS he was spouting. I'm not sure which is worse, that he is a pathological liar or is completely ignorant of the facts. Neither one is a great option.

Trump is on a mission to drastically reduce the value of truth and facts. I really mean it this time until and unless I don't. 

I grew up being taught that words matter. I was also taught that the truth mattered. If I did something wrong growing up I got in trouble. If I got caught lying about it too I got double or triple punishment. Nixon didn't necessarily face impeachment for the Watergate break-in but he did for the coverup and lying.

Here is my suggestion to Trump. Say what you mean and mean what you say. Words really do matter when you are the president. 

I also think that the news media and citizens must call out Trump and his surrogates when they spew complete BS. Keep their feet to the fire. That is the only way that truth and facts can triumph over fake news and conspiracy theories. The Republicans, Fox News and radio talk shows dissected everything Obama said down to the punctuation. It seems fair to me that Trump should be held to the same standards. Did I mention that words matter? So does punctuation. 

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