Imagine if you posted on Facebook, “I’m going to the store,” and someone replied, “How come you’re going to buy the world’s largest vibrating dildo?”
That other person would deny he’s lying, wouldn’t he? If you accused him of lying, he’d fire off a series of defenses:
** It was a question, not a statement ** You didn’t say you weren’t going to buy the world’s largest dildo, did you? ** Can you prove you weren’t planning to get the world’s largest vibrating dildo?
In other words, someone who wants the world to believe you’re on your way to Dr. John’s to buy the world’s largest vibrating dildo could easily pretend he wasn’t lying about you.
Something like this happened on Facebook the other night. NeverTrumpers on Facebook asked why Donald Trump vowed to erase the 10th Amendment. Well, not directly. But that’s what they wanted people to believe. Instead of saying it directly, they used weapons grade mental manipulation to trick readers into making up their own lies.
Here’s what Trump actually said about protecting police officers from assassins and murderers:
One of the first things Iād do in terms of executive order, if I win, will be to sign a strong, strong statement that would go out to the country, out to the world, anybody killing a police man, a police woman, a police officer, anybody killing a police officer, the death penalty is going to happen.
Even a person of mild creativity like me can see how President Trump can fulfill this promise while being completely true to the intent of the 10th Amendment, which prohibits Washington from taking on powers not granted in the Constitution. For example, President Trump could sign an executive order instructing the Department of Justice to seek the death penalty in any federal prosecution of someone accused of murdering a police officer.
No one would argue that the president lacks the Constitutional authority to give such direction to the DOJ. In fact, that’s exactly what executive orders are meant to do–direct the executive branch within the law.
So it’s obvious that Trump can fulfill this intention to protect the lives of cops while staying true to the word and intent of the Bill of Rights. Anyone can see this.
But some NeverTrumpers don’t want you to see the truth. Those NeverTrumpers want you to make up your own lies. With their help, of course.
Those NeverTrumpers want people to believe Trump said things Trump didn’t say. (Because NeverTrumpers might secretly want to sleep with Hillary Clinton). They are very, very careful, the way a con artist is careful, to avoid direct statements. Instead, they ask vague questions that allow other Trump skeptics to imagine something terrible.
It’s very crafty and very skillful mental manipulation. I bet professional con artists would even be impressed.
Another tactic con artists use: they report old news as if it were new. Donald Trump’s statement on protecting the lives of police officers was from December 2015. Those NeverTrumpers are learning lots of manipulation tricks from MSNBC and Crooked Hillary’s campaign. After the election, they’d make great swindlers.
That’s how you pretend you’re not lying. Be vague. Imply with questions. Let the reader invent his own lies which he’ll cherish as his own.
I won’t use any manipulation tricks to get you to buy my new book. You’ll probably want to anyway.