The Liars Club
“I’m a member of Pathological Liars Anonymous. In fact, I’m the president of that organization!”
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Those of us of a certain age are well aware of the Saturday Night Live “Liar” character, Tommy Flanagan, the Pathological Liar, played by comedian Jon Lovitz. The character, which Lovitz created at the Groundlings theatre, an improvisation and sketch comedy theater and school in Los Angeles. The liar character became a breakout hit during the 1985–1986 season of SNL.
Lovitz, in character, would tell a “whopper” and then would follow it by saying “Yeah! That’s the ticket!” while fidgeting and rubbing his hands gleefully. Then he would follow up with another whopper, even more outrageous than the first.
This is the “metaverse” in which we are living right now.
The Buffoons:
I don’t have to tell you who the captain of the good ship lie-ly-pop is. His danger to us is belied by the buffoonery of his own persona. Furthermore, his podbay is occupied by a curious mix of sycophants, clowns, and evil trolls, all of whom are charter members of the pathological liars society - though there is nothing anonymous about them.
The Clowns:
The newest and boldest member of the clown car is Speaker of the House Mike Johnson. It’s easy to ferret out his role now, with the No Kings Rallies behind us, because he spent the last few weeks seriously (Really! Seriously?) warning the American people about the “Hate America Rallies”.
JD Vance is also in the leadership of the Liars Club - The Clown Division - bursting his way onto the scene when he manufactured the silly story about Haitian immigrants eating their neighbor’s dogs and cats during the 2024 election.
If there is a single American, even in the MAGA camp, who believes anything these three say today, then they are so profoundly divorced from reality that there’s probably no coming back for them.
I’m sure there are plenty, too, within the crowd, who know that Vance and Johnson are in the Grand Council of the Liars Club, but they think it’s all a great joke on which they are in.
If we end up in a war with one or another of the straw man countries that Trump, Vance, and Johnson are setting up, and suddenly their sons and daughters may find themselves in the crosshairs, they will quickly change their tune.
You see, we’ve always had about 10% of Americans at either end of the political circle who are, for whatever reason, what Jon Avlon calls “Wingnuts”.
But EVERYONE else is reachable, if we simply listen to one another.
The Sycophants:
Taking another step up the ladder of idiocracy from the buffoons, who somehow have managed to create a persona somewhere between the drunk uncle at the holiday party and the dotty grandpa, we begin to enter into a very different group of liars: the sycophants. You can tell who these folks are. They are the ones who reveal themselves when they think no one is watching. The Marco Rubios and Scott Bessents who lie much less effortlessly, even uncomfortably.
Their eyes shift, they try to position themselves where no one can really notice them, they speak softly, without authority or earnesty. In their heads, they can hear the voices of their mothers or their fathers telling them, “You know better.” but their need for approval from the “dear leader” overwhelms their better angels.
We should not give them a pass on this because they not only know better but still play the game despite that. These members of the club should never again be afforded the respect associated with reputational rehabilitation. They are the Jeffrey Epstein and George Santos acolytes of social order.
Most of the time, they have not broken any laws or done anything that they can be held accountable for except through social shame. They have so deeply betrayed the American character and their humanity that their social banishment is the only way that they can be punished.
The Evil Trolls:
The Evil Trolls are the worst of all because they not only lie with impunity but they do so with malice. There is no guilt in their eyes or their souls. The malignancy of their characters runs deep. Russell Vought, Tom Hohman, Stephen Miller, Kristi Noem, among others. They are a threat to everything we hold dear in our Democracy.
The day will come when these people must be held accountable. Not through the weaponization of justice, but through a clear-eyed, fair, and by-the-book, accounting for their crimes. Delivered, not in a fit of vengeance, but a firm commitment to the Rule of Law.
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About Wayne King
Wayne is a North American “mutt” with a family heritage that winds through his Native American, Canadian, and US Colonial roots. His love for the philosophical founding documents and sacred stories and dreams of both the Abenaki and the Iroquois, the US Founders, and the sacred artists, musicians, writers, and poets whose works and images are a celebration of the circle of life, continues to be the source of his inspiration.
An author, podcaster, artist, activist, and recovering politician, including three terms as a State Senator and 1994 Democratic nominee for Governor. His art (WayneDKing.com) is exhibited nationally in galleries, and he has published five books of his images, most recently, “New Hampshire - a Love Story”. His novel “Sacred Trust” - a vicarious, high-voltage adventure to stop a private power line - as well as the photographic books, are available at most local bookstores or on Amazon.
Wayne lives on the “Narrows” in Bath, NH, at the confluence of the Connecticut and Ammonoosuc Rivers and proudly flies the American, Iroquois, and Abenaki Flags, attesting to both his ancestry and his spiritual ties. Anamaki is a derivative of an Algonquin word meaning “abiding hope”.
Art, Columns, and Podcasts are produced at Anamaki Productions, Winter Warrior Studios in Bath, NH. Join the mailing list and be first to see new images and to receive special offers on cards, prints, limited editions, and more at his Anamaki Chronicles Substack
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We do not have a paywall at the Anamaki Chronicles substack. In the spirit of native people, we welcome what you can share with us, and we offer what we have that you may find enriches your experience. Art, Columns, and Podcasts are produced at Anamaki Chronicles’ Winter Warrior Studios in Bath, NH. It is free to join the mailing list and to subscribe to our YouTube channel. Your donations and purchases of art and merchandise help us to cover the costs of production, and we hope to avoid advertising that we feel detracts from our mission. We invite you to join us to support the creation of art, podcasts, and writing that serve to bring us together through truth and reconciliation. Anamaki Chronicles Substack
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