Bernie Sanders: What should we do if the president is a liar?

[Donkees]

Mar 7, 2017

Excerpts:

We face a very serious political problem in this country, and that problem is manifested in a post written yesterday by Amber Phillips of The Washington Post. In her piece, Phillips criticizes me for lowering the state of our political discourse, because I accused the president of being a “liar.”

What should a United States senator, or any citizen, do if the president is a liar? Does ignoring this reality benefit the American people? Do we make a bad situation worse by disrespecting the president of the United States? Or do we have an obligation to say that he is a liar to protect America’s standing in the world and people’s trust in our institutions?

I happen to strongly believe in civil political discourse. The vast majority of people in Congress who hold views different than mine are not liars. It is critical we have strong, fact-based debates on the important issues facing our country and that we respect people who come to different conclusions. In a democracy people will always have honestly held different points of view.

But how does one respond to a president who has complete disregard for reality and who makes assertions heard by billions of people around the world that have no basis in fact?

I find it interesting that Ms. Phillips did not take issue with my facts. Her complaint appears to be that it is improper for a United States senator to state the obvious. And that is that we have a president who either lies intentionally or, even more frighteningly, does not know the difference between lies and truth.

---

It is easy to know how we respond to a president with whom we disagree on many, many issues...

But how do we deal with a president who makes statements that reverberate around our country and the world that are not based on fact or evidence? What is the appropriate way to respond to that? And if the media and political leaders fail to call lies what they are, are they then guilty of misleading the public?

https://medium.com/senator-bernie-sanders/what-should-we-do-if-the-president-is-a-liar-2e2a27953e8f#.xo7fxrweo

[No Vested Interest]

1. Moral turpitude charge? nt

[Chevy]

2. And for today I fully agree with the Seanator

that Philips puff piece was embarrassing.

[smirkymonkey]

3. The president IS a liar and we need to impeach him ASAP.

He is a danger to the nation and to the world. I don't know why anyone is even questioning this. The man is barking mad and completely unfit for office. He needs to be removed.

[spanone]

4. 'IF' ????

[we can do it]

6. Beat me by a second!

[spanone]

7. great minds!!!!

[trof]

8. Right. It is a provable fact.

[malaise]

12. Bwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah

He's a pathological LIAR

[we can do it]

5. IF???

[Amaryllis]

9. Was just gonna post that identical comment myself...

[BSdetect]

10. Do not tolerate his lies. Confront him as he utters his crap.

[Maven]

11. What do we do if the presidency has been captured by an unfriendly foreign government? nt

[Blue_Tires]

13. Why is Sanders navel-gazing instead of drawing up multiple articles of impeachment?

[thesquanderer]

15. Impeachment starts in the House, not the Senate. (n/t)

[wishstar]

14. How do we deal with delusional nut who doesn't care what is true or false, right from wrong?

Tweet from Adam Schiff, Dem. Congressman:
"We must accept possibility that @POTUS does not know fact from fiction, right from wrong. That wild claims are not strategic, but worse."

Amber Phillips agrees with Schiff, to bolster her opinion that some Dems are too quick to use term liar. She is parroting Sean Spicer's explanation that Trump isn't lying if he believes what he says. But that cop out is a lame excuse

In my opinion Trump is not only erratic and impulsive, dominated by poor judgment clouded by hatred, prejudice and rightwing obsessions, but he also has a track record as a skillful manipulating dishonest con artist acting amorally to serve his selfish purposes.