By: Rae Arnett
This week, as I was watching the Trump Administration take full swing, I admit that I was curious about what, if any, campaign promises he would fulfill.
I was anxious to see what he might tweet, what he might say, and who he might nominate for confirmation.
I was not expecting a pissing contest about inauguration crowd sizes nor was I expecting the absurdity that is “alternative facts”.
Senior Advisor to Donald Trump, Kellyanne Conway, explained that White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer’s interesting first interaction with the press (where he claimed that Trump’s inauguration had the biggest crowd ever. Period) was a representation of alternative facts. Wait… what? That’s what I thought. What is in alternative fact and how can I get some?
But let’s just examine that phrase for a moment.
Alternative is defined as of one or more things available as another possibility.
Fact is defined as a thing that is indisputably the case.
Alternative fact is, plain and simple, an oxymoron. There is no quantifiable evidence that Trump’s inauguration had the largest crowd in history, however there is verifiable evidence of Obama’s inauguration crowd being larger than Trump’s.
Spicer did not present alternative facts. He did not present facts at all, and furthermore, regardless of your personal feelings about the new administration’s policies, there should be concern about these blatant lies.
Being concerned with the honesty and integrity of the White House Administration should be expected of the American people. Especially when the lies told are not serving to protect national secrets, but rather to placate the ego of our 45th president. There is no other reason to lie about such trivial facts. Who cares about the size of the inauguration crowds? Or his hands for that matter.
If we are in the business of accepting alternative facts, then I would like to point out that Marilyn Monroe is going to be my Maid of Honor when I get married, because that’s what alternative facts are; complete fabrications.
I challenge everyone reading this to push for an honest administration. This is not about policies, executive orders, or campaign promises. It is about holding the highest office in the nation accountable and maintaining the ethics we have come to expect from such an office.
Now is not the time to be passive. If you disagree with your local, state, or national representatives then let them know. If you think they are doing a stellar job then write them, call them, send them a bottle of tequila; just do not be passive.
But, even further, I challenge you to look for and expect honesty and integrity from yourselves, and from those around you. If we are going to survive an administration of trivial lies and lack of integrity, then we must truly rise above it and elevate ourselves to a higher level.
