The Biggest Lie

      It is an old joke.  Well, technically it is several old jokes.  

Since I am, to my discredit and shame, only familiar with humor traditions of Western culture and in the English language specifically, I acknowledge there may well be far more “biggest lie” jokes than I have been exposed to.

Sometimes it aint a joke.  I have heard the phrase used when humor was the absolute last thing anyone was attempting to communicate.  Sometimes usage of the phrase precedes a verbal or physical altercation.

As a general rule, my experience with the phrase is limited to those two use cases.  It is used either as a joke or as a threat.  That changes today.  Okay, perhaps “today” is minorly disingenuous but, I assure you it is a recent change.

The ironic thing is that I have a maxim for pretty much my entire life that is as deserving of the description “the biggest lie” if anything is.  “All’s fair in love and war” is that maxim.  Until recently I gave it no thought at all.  That lack of thought was justified (in my mind) by the blatant wrongness of the claim.  Anyone who has served in the military knows full well that war has all kinds of rules.  There are also traditions and habits and absolute no nos.  No matter how much you love someone, inflicting physical pain is frowned upon.  Taking fiscal advantage of your love interest is not something you do to impress their family.  Making promises you have no intention of keeping is not typically seen as a loving act.  As it turns out, there are in fact rules in love and war.  There are things that are considered unfair or out of bounds in love, war or business.

All of that is knowledge I would expect most any human to have.  Perhaps we might have to think specifically about a given situation but eventually, we will come to understand that regardless of where you are or what you are doing, there are actions that are unacceptable.  Most every human and plenty of entities in other species appear to know this.  But not Felon47.

A look at Donald John Trump’s life, casual or indepth, leads one inescapably to the conclusion that he actually, honestly lives his life in such a manner as to indicate absolute belief in that flawed maxim.  He openly expresses the desire for those subordinate to him to ignore the laws, local, state, national or international, and carry out his orders or follow his suggestions.  He had sexual affairs with girls or women even while he was ostensibly in monogamous relationships.  He appears to have done it in every allegedly committed relationship he has been in.  It looks for all the world that he fully believes that “All is fair in love and war,”  The evidence that gives lie to the maxim for the majority of humanity, has had no apparent effect on him.

I am starting to think that the reason he lies so frequently and completely is rooted in the fact that he believes whatever he does is perfectly fine within the arenas of love, war, and business.  I suppose I could point out just how incredibly flawed such thinking is but, the other thing that Felon47 demonstrates is a slogan from one of my biker tee shirts.  “If I have to explain it, you wouldn’t understand”.   A different quote may be even more relevant here  "It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary (also applicable: power) depends on his not understanding it."