You don’t need me to tell you there’s an epic liar in the White House; the mountain of evidence has been building for years and years. But four events over the last week offer snapshots into how he works to degrade the truth, what the consequences can be and how we may soon celebrate a powerful majority of Americans expressing they’ve had enough.
Blaming Ukraine for record diesel prices
Yesterday Donald Trump addressed the rising price of diesel, which hit a record high of over $6 a gallon this week raising farmers’ expenses and the price of food, as well as making virtually all shipping more expensive. Diesel prices have skyrocketed 60 percent since Trump launched his unauthorized war of choice against Iran in February.
But when asked by a reporter whether he had spoken to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky after speaking to Russian President Vladimir Putin, Trump had this to say: “Mr. Zelensky has to do one thing. He has to stop knocking out diesel fuel in Russia…Don’t hit diesel fuel, because that’s hurting, that’s hurting the world.”
This followed Trump’s sycophantic treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, pursuing this same shameful distraction—and attacking a democratic nation fighting for its survival against the murderous Putin—ten days ago after meeting with Russia’s finance minister. “We are going through an energy shock right now due to both the war in Ukraine—because Ukraine has decided that they want to blow up Russian energy assets and refine products, so that is creating upward price pressure on a global basis,” Bessent said on Fox News, adding as an afterthought, “And then the conflict in Iran” which “will end.”
Get it? They want us to believe the real problem is Ukraine’s campaign against Russian oil refineries and other facilities, which fund and fuel Russia’s war. Yet as a report from the International Energy Agency published Friday noted as of August, diesel exports from Gulf countries were “just over a quarter” of their levels before Trump’s war against Iran.
The report added that Ukraine’s attacks have “compounded the losses,” but Trump and Bessent are mounting their campaign to shift responsibility from their war to Ukraine. They are counting on voters to believe that the damage they’ve caused is not their fault. We can expect this lie to grow louder and be repeated often.
The Smithsonian’s head resigns
On Tuesday last week, Lonnie G. Bunch, III, the 73-year-old secretary of the Smithsonian—the world’s largest museum, education and research complex— announced that he was retiring by the end of the year. This follows incessant false and partisan attacks by Trump against the Smithsonian and Bunch in an effort to take control and end its “divisive narratives” and “anti-American ideology.”
(You can read more about these attacks in my July essay, beginning with Trump’s executive order soon after he re-occupied the White House, ludicrously entitled, “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History.” That reached a hateful crescendo with a 162-page report in July condemning the Smithsonian’s “extreme political activism.”)
In his resignation letter to Smithsonian staff, Bunch began by describing “very mixed emotions and heartfelt gratitude” and ended by saying he was leaving “with pride and sadness, with gratitude and joy.”
While Bunch has said that he had been ready to retire for some time and had stayed to fight and defend the institution that he loves, have no doubt the constant pummeling took its toll. The pressure was ramped up earlier this month by a hostile letter sent by the Interior Department—and signed by its secretary Doug Burgum—complaining about the Smithsonian’s “divisive, ideological agenda” and threatening to cut off its funding.
Confirming his resignation, Bunch told ABC News last week, “I have fought for as long as I can. I love this country and I love the Smithsonian and I will always work to defend our more perfect Union.” Bunch is the first historian and the first African American to serve as the Smithsonian’s chief.
When asked in a July interview about the ongoing criticism, Bunch diplomatically said, “I’m always open to any criticism, any comments. We want to be in the best institutions we can be.” But, he added, “I feel very strongly that a nation has to understand the totality of its past, the complexity of its past, in order to understand greatness of a nation.”
Bunch has said that he’s accomplished what he’s set out to do and that he’s leaving on his own terms after serving eight years as secretary.
As Charles Blow reported for The Guardian this weekend after an interview with Bunch, he hopes the Smithsonian’s visitors will continue to say, “I’m not afraid of the truth, I’m not afraid of my past and I’m not afraid of ambiguity.”
It’s the kind of message that reminds us that the repetition of racist and baseless accusations can and do cause harm—including to good men like Lonnie Bunch—but the deeper truths can and will ultimately win out.
Erasing data doesn’t eliminate environmental damage
In a late breaking story last night, Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency is expected to eliminate the limits on pollution produced by power plants burning coal and gas—pollution that helps caused rising carbon dioxide and warming of the planet. This is part of the regime’s ongoing rejection of climate policies supported by Presidents Joe Biden and Barack Obama to control greenhouse gas emissions, all for the supposed benefit of its friends in the fossil fuel industry.
But make no mistake: Trump can deny the truth of climate change by calling it a hoax and eliminating standards enacted to slow its growth. His sycophantic EPA administrator, Lee Zeldin, can keep looking for more ways to cut restrictions. But in the years ahead, Americans will increasingly recognize that extreme weather events are becoming more frequent and intense—and that these anti-human policies exacerbated the poisoning of our planet and people.
Finally, looking at a new poll
I’m reluctant to rely too heavily on polling to forecast what the midterms will yield, but a just-published CBS News/YouGov survey conducted between Sept. 8 and Sept. 11 found that Democrats hold a 54-46 percent advantage in a generic congressional ballot—and that Trump is a major motivating factor.
The poll also found that 80 percent of those who said they’re voting Democratic is to oppose Trump while just 61 percent of those intending to vote for Republicans said they are doing so to support Trump. The conservative estimate of this “Battleground Tracker” for the House: The Democrats will end up with 228 seats to 207 for the Republicans.
Let’s work to make this happen, even as an increasingly desperate Trump urges his supporters to cheat at the polls and lies that every American will get $5,000 if they succeed and Republicans hold the House and Senate.
That means learning from leaders like Bunch and Zelensky and others who are committed to democracy, an informed public and the capacity of humans to pursue a better future. In 49 days, Americans can prove that they’ve had enough with both the lies and the man who spews them.
As we head to the midterms, it’s more important than ever to support the survival of democracy. I remain committed to raising my voice as vividly and fiercely as I can. I hope you’ll consider becoming a paid subscriber for just $50 a year or $5 a month to show your support and enhance your engagement—to share your thoughts in the comments sections and access all content.
Not nearly enough to cause the appropriate among of alarm less than two months out from the election. Too much denial, both deliberate and not.
“People who shut their eyes to reality simply invite their own destruction, and anyone who insists on remaining in a state on innocence long after that innocence is dead turns himself into a monster.” - James Baldwin
People have 49 days to choose what side of democracy they are on. Choose wisely. Choose for the people.