Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire
Eye-Opening Truths About Liars
Anyone remember this classic playground chant? It was often extended to “ nose as long as a telephone wire,” referencing Pinocchio.
Classic Chant: “Liar, liar, pants on fire, / Nose as long as a telephone wire”.
Common Reply: “I don’t care, I don’t care, / I can buy another pair”.
Its roots originated in literature around the 1840s and has been used to mock liars. I remember us kids saying this to liars. Especially chronic, pathological liars.
We have one living in the White House.
Pathological Lying
Pathological lying is often associated with personality disorders, such as antisocial or narcissistic personality disorder. This behavior involves long-term, excessive lying to gain attention, manipulate, or cope with insecurity.
It frequently stems from a mix of childhood trauma, low self-esteem, and learned coping mechanisms to avoid conflict, shame, or punishment.
The behavior serves to protect oneself or manage social interaction, rather than solely to be malicious.
Pathological liars often feel compelled to lie, rather than “liking” it for pleasure, because lying acts as a coping mechanism that reduces anxiety and provides temporary relief.
It is often a habitual or near-addictive behavior, where they lie without a clear motive or even when it is self-damaging.
These liars may or may not be aware they are lying. While some know they are lying, many start to believe their own fabrications, struggling to distinguish truth from fantasy due to the frequency and repetition of their stories.
Pathological liars often gravitate toward people who are vulnerable to manipulation, gullible, or likely to validate their fabrications. They seek audiences that feed their need for admiration or attention.
Pathological liars can be dangerous, primarily causing severe emotional, psychological, and relational harm rather than physical danger. Their persistent, often compulsive lying creates toxic environments, destroys trust, and can lead to financial or social ruin for those around them.
Why Words That are Used Matter
The words used shape thoughts, influence behaviors, evoke emotions, and construct reality. Word choice frames messages, affecting how information is perceived—such as framing a burger as “80% lean” versus “20% fat”.
They can either build understanding or create conflict, stigma, and division.
Word choice can impact whether others feel safe. Studies show that positive language leads to feelings of encouragement and openness, while negative language often leads to defensiveness and conflict.
Words have power.
Trump’s attacks on powerful media stars like Tucker Carlson have caused their MAGA voices to speak out now about their revision of support for him. Tucker Carlson, on his program with his brother Buckley (a former Trump speechwriter), apologized to his audience. “I want to say I’m sorry for misleading people,” and called the Iran war “the single biggest mistake” of Trump’s second term. Buckley Carlson added: “You wrote speeches for him. I campaigned for him. I mean, we’re implicated in this.”
Bottom Line
Trump’s approval/disapproval ratings continue to plummet that include reasons beyond his job performance. The influence of his pathological lying has broken trust, caused division, and spread negativity.
The anti-Trumpers who tuned him out for years have not given up but instead remain steadfast in their peaceful, growing pushbacks in protests and events like the No Kings Days. On Tuesday, Democrats in Virginia successfully pushed through one of America’s most aggressively gerrymandered congressional maps by Republicans and Trump.
Trump recently furthered conflict with his large, important supporters/allies, both nationally and internationally. His base of Catholic support has been affected by his rhetorical attacks on Pope Leo. These supporters, along with his powerful media voices are stepping back and disconnecting.
Trump’s policies and personal business dealings have allegedly caused financial strain or significant wealth loss for his allies, donors, and the broader public. Will these sectors begin retracting support for him?
Thanks for the thought provoking article, Debbie. I was thinking how, in this age of AI, we are surrounded by lies, both human- and machine-generated. Both erode people's trust in information sources by constructing false narratives. Some sources say these narratives can even create false memories if repeated often enough. Goodness knows the internet is certainly capable of that. One difference between human lies and the AI generated ones will be our ability to detect them. We're headed to a place where even sophisticated detection tools won't be able to pick out the fakes. Will we even know what truth is, then?
I often ask WHY he's such a liar, and I've come to the conclusion that the entire Trump realm is the result of daddy issues! Trump's authoritarian approach, his repulsion to the rule of law, his obsession with lying, and MAGA's unconditional love are ALL based on daddy issues, in my opinion. Trump's dad (Frederick) first chose Fred Jr as his business successor, but Jr. could not tolerate the corruption, pressure, and oppression from his dad which drove Jr. to become an alcoholic (as was Don's mother) and ultimately end his own life.
Frederick then chose Trump, and after young Donald saw what daddy put his brother through, Don knew he would have to play Frederick's game in order to survive, no matter what it took. And Frederick taught Don how lying can get you to higher, wealthier places a lot easier than telling the truth. And so it was, that as an adult, Donny made a boatload of money conning righ old widows to invest in his scam real estate project (very well outlines by Paul Krugman), which he then applied to his political career.
Meanwhile, MAGA, who are mostly rural, were raise in a strict authoritarian and oppressive household where the "truth" was whatever daddy told you it was. You never were taught to ask questions since that doubt and curiosity were deemed as "disobedience". Simply put, MAGA either simply never got hugged enough as kids, or they got the crap beat out of them when daddy got home after dinking with the boys, because, you know, kids are just the unwanted byproduct of having sex...