I find it infuriating that Donald Trump and his Cabinet can never acknowledge a mistake. Rather than saying someone on their team may have screwed up, they choose to lie.  I no longer believe any information that comes from the federal government. This goes for economic statistics, the impacts of climate change and confrontations between government employees and citizens. This makes me sad and furious.

Do Donald Trump, Kristi Noem and JD Vance believe that every one of the thousands of ICE employees are infallible? Are they incapable of making a bad judgment call in a stressful situation? This administration asks us frequently to not believe our own eyes.

The most egregious recent example of this phenomenon is Trump’s version of what happened to Renee Good in Minneapolis. He wrote on social media that Ms. Good “was very disorderly … violently, viciously and willfully ran over the ICE agent, who shot her in self-defense.” This is a lie. She was not disorderly. She did not run anyone over.

In George Orwell’s disturbing, dystopian novel, “1984,” the central theme is that the government can control society by manipulating reality itself. It can rewrite history (Jan. 6, 2021 peaceful protests?) and demand obedience to obvious falsehoods (the stolen 2020 election?) The canonical quote from the book is: “The party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.”  Does this seem at all like the response of the Republican Party to Trump’s frequent lies?

Kevin Carley
Portland