Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor

Annals of Post-Truth Politics: Good for Norah O'Donnell

By James Fallows, The Atlantic

Relevant background point #1: Rep. Paul Ryan's fame has depended on his reputation as the man who knew the obscure details of federal budget policy, and who was brave and honest enough to tell the public the unvarnished truth about those details.

Corollary #1: Therefore questions of selectively presented truth, or incomplete honesty, count against his reputation more than they would someone who is seen as a run-of-the-mill partisan. Similarly: suspicions of extra-marital dalliance would do more damage to someone whose image involved being strait-laced than to someone already known as a rogue. (Think: Mitt Romney on the one hand, Bill Clinton on the other.)

Relevant background #2: In his speech at the GOP convention, Paul Ryan really laid on the "selectively presented truths," more than other major speakers from either party. Especially notable:

• Slamming the Obama administration for Medicare cuts, without mentioning that his budget plan included the same cuts (an omission Bill Clinton smilingly filleted him for in his DNC speech); 
• Slamming Obama for not doing more to support the Simpson-Bowles commission, without mentioning that Ryan was on the commission and voted against its recommendations; 
• Slamming the administration for the downgrade in the U.S. government's credit rating, without mentioning that a big part of the reason* for that downgrade (as reported by Standard & Poor's when issuing the downgrade) was the threat by Ryan and other GOP House members to block a usually routine measure to raise the U.S. debt ceiling and therefore risk a default on U.S. sovereign debt. 

Again, we expect politicians to shade and shape their version of reality. But getting a reputation for doing this, as Ryan is doing during the campaign, is a particular problem for someone who has been set up as a uniquely honorable truth-teller.

(More here.)