Truth, Alternative Facts, 1984, Liars, and Leadership

My unplanned thoughts after hearing about this news story: Alternative Facts: Trump Adviser Conway Stirs Mockery, Concern (click for humorous memes).

“He who controls the past controls the future. He who controls the present controls the past.”
― George Orwell, 1984

A short story:

Liar to Reporter:

These are alternative facts.

You mean lies?

Yes, lies. I’ll be truthful—I’m hoping that these are believable lies.

A shorter story:

Bend over, Truth.

F@#k you, Alternative Facts.

These “alternative facts” one-liners keep playing in my mind…

“If you want to keep a secret, you must also hide it from yourself.”
― George Orwell, 1984

Alternative Facts:

1. Cheat on our relationship with the truth–don’t be seduced by fiction masquerading as fact.
2. Are as dangerous and toxic as the cancer-causing artificial sweeteners in food.
3. Is the virtual reality game–played by narcissistic sociopaths everywhere.
4. Is Alien-speak for you’re dumb and gullible and I’m not.
5. The no interest, dumb-ass card–what is in your reality?
6. Lie, cheat and steal–don’t let the truth get taken.
7. Seek to murder truth. Don’t be an accomplice.
8. The remedy for inconvenient truths.
9. Will always prove me right.
10. The pick-pocket of truth.
    
    Writer George Orwell, author of the novel 1984, which portrays a dictatorship that imposes its own facts.
    Uncredited/AP

“But if thought corrupts language, language can also corrupt thought.”
― George Orwell, 1984

“Alternative facts” is not just a turn of phrase. Lying is not a strategy. Leaders don’t lie. Real leaders don’t disseminate easy-to-disprove or hard-to-disprove falsehoods through followers. Being truthful is synonymous with leadership.

What’s happening on the national stage is a milkshake of funny, surreal and scary. That’s my “alternative facts” rant; maybe I’ll fall asleep now.

P.S. This isn’t a political post. I view what’s happening through the lens of effective leadership. No more, no less. I’ll leave religion, politics, and sex to the experts.

Featured Image (top): Side-by-Side Images Show 2009 Inauguration Compared to 2017 (NBC News)