The Delusion of Alternative Facts
Rule #1: We cannot ascertain what’s true, but we can establish what’s false.
Donald Trump’s hypothesis about the size of the crowd was possibly reasonable from his vantage point at the dais. As noted by the Washington Post, it may have looked to Trump as if the crowd stretched all the way to the back of the National Mall. Or maybe he just lied. Either way, hypotheses can only survive for as long as the data support them: from aerial photographs, to estimates from crowd scientists, to the public transit ridership numbers provided by the WMAT (Washington Metropolitan Area Transit), the facts reject the White House’s assertion that Trump’s inaugural crowd was the largest in history.
Fascinating article, however I would argue that Trump and WH are engaged in deceit with full knowledge of the truth -- i.e. lying.
Perhaps Trump's fragile child-like ego is what prevents him from seeing the truth. But his mental illness is not an excuse for the lack of integrity shown by his staff.
Rule #1: We cannot ascertain what’s true, but we can establish what’s false.
Donald Trump’s hypothesis about the size of the crowd was possibly reasonable from his vantage point at the dais. As noted by the Washington Post, it may have looked to Trump as if the crowd stretched all the way to the back of the National Mall. Or maybe he just lied. Either way, hypotheses can only survive for as long as the data support them: from aerial photographs, to estimates from crowd scientists, to the public transit ridership numbers provided by the WMAT (Washington Metropolitan Area Transit), the facts reject the White House’s assertion that Trump’s inaugural crowd was the largest in history.
Fascinating article, however I would argue that Trump and WH are engaged in deceit with full knowledge of the truth -- i.e. lying.
Perhaps Trump's fragile child-like ego is what prevents him from seeing the truth. But his mental illness is not an excuse for the lack of integrity shown by his staff.
