There is a gospel song, “Leave that Liar Alone,” that warns us about liars. We learn to deal with liars by ignoring what they say: “The Boy Who Cried ‘Wolf.’” A book was written in the 1930s that focused on different ways that people lie.

If you ask someone to avoid thinking about something really weird – an elephant in the room – you can’t avoid thinking about it because we need context; you have to imagine the elephant before you can stop thinking about it.

When someone keeps repeating a lie, then others have a tendency to accept the lie. Donald Trump is a master of this. In the first three days of his administration, he has lied about the number of people who came to see his inauguration, that journalists are the scum of the earth, and that he won the popular vote because of massive voter fraud. You can probably think of others that he told during the campaign.

When a climate of lies and deceits permeates a country, it is very hard to change back to gaining the public’s trust. The more lies that come from our president and the Republicans, the public will stop listening, and we must rely on the press to monitor what is said and call out the falsehoods. Liars don’t like to have their lies pointed out.

We are going to be told lies many times over the next four years. Changing the climate of government will take much longer.

STEPHEN L. CHASE JR.

Port Hadlock