First year law students are taught some principles that are good for law as well as life, and for the rare intersection of those two phenomena. One of those is “Falsus in uno, falsus in omnibus.” It means that if you lie about one thing, you might very well be lying about everything. This Latin riff is laid on a jury to permit them to discredit everything a witness says if the witness has been caught in even one lie.
To you Trump supporters hanging by a thread, clinging to false hope like some Japanese soldiers after the Empire surrendered, I say it’s time – beyond time – to let go. In other words: Falsus in uno, falsus in omnibus. The future ex-president rode to popularity on his despicable race-baiting lie about President Obama’s country of birth. Then he said for a year that there was nothing to the Russia collusion story, that it was fake news. Now we know that too was a lie, and what’s more, he is directly involved in approving a false statement issued on behalf of Donald Jr. You have the court’s permission to discredit everything else he said and says: Job saver/creator – no. Wall builder – no. Provider of great health care – no. Trillion dollars on infrastructure – no. Tax reformer – no.
If you feel bad about getting conned, don’t. You weren’t the first, and you won’t be the last. As that noted statesman, P.T. Barnum, supposedly said, “There’s a sucker born every minute.” Just out of curiosity, are you planning a family?
Evan Sarzin is the author of Hard Bop Piano and Bud Powell published by Gerard & Sarzin Music Publishing. He writes and publishes Revolted Colonies (http://revoltedcolonies.com).