Communication is more important than ever. And Lying is one of the worst forms of communication. I’m Gloria Moraga, a Political Woman, and I Vote.  Season 4 will focus on the importance of Communicating about political issues. Important issues that touch all our lives. 

Wherever you may live, telling the truth is important; it is essential to talk to each other. 

Lying Hurts Real People

In this episode, I focus on two of the women whose lives have been destroyed by President Trump’s big lie. They are not alone. And please think about it. We could be them because lies hurt all of us.

Lying is very intimate. It’s very one-on-one.

Okay, so. Everybody lies, right? No. Not everybody.

So you ask your daughter, do I look fat in these pants?

No, Mom, you look great.

I know I look fat. I see the rolls of fat; my blouse is too tight. I’ve gained weight, and I feel fat.

No, mom, you look great.

So yes. We all lie. But a lie that keeps someone from feeling bad about themselves is not so horrible.

My ex-Husband was a Liar and a Cheater.

How about this one? Are you having an affair? No. I’m playing golf. It’s summer vacation, and I want to spend some time doing what I love.

Why are you playing golf at night?

I’m practicing my swing and hitting golf balls at the range.

In the dark.

There are lights, Gloria.

I knew that when my ex-husband used my name, not one of his pet names, for me, he was losing his patience with the conversation.

Sounds stupid, right? What woman believes her husband is hitting golf balls at night?

Gloria Moraga. That’s who.

He was having an affair. He had been lying to me about his experiences for years.

He is a liar.

How I found out he was lying was worst than the lie.

My teenage daughter listened to his phone calls and caught him in the act of lying. When she heard him on the phone with his lover, she confronted him and begged him to stay home.

He left her in the garage, sobbing.

I was sick at the time. I had a hyperthyroid, and my heart was pounding a mile a minute. I lost so much weight. I was happy. But the doctor said I would last long unless the meds worked. But the meds gave me hives. I was dealing with an erratic heart rate and hives when my daughter burst into my bedroom. Sobbing and told me dad was having an affair.  

He was a liar and a cheat. I divorced him after 32 years of trying to make it work.

I lied at Work – I didn’t Lie at Work.

How about lies at work? What about lying to your boss?

Yes. I have lied to my boss. Because when I told him the truth, I got yelled at. I was scolded. He didn’t want the truth.

Jack Nicholson said in the movie “A Few Good Men,” “you can’t handle the truth.”

I learned how to lie early in my management career.

I was new to management. Our general manager, the head of the entire television station, said, I always want the truth. You can say anything you want to me in these management meetings. You can say anything you want to me in my office.

So, I’m in my first big manager’s meeting, and the big boss asks, “How is morale in the station? What is the staff saying about working here.”

Nobody spoke. Nobody made eye contact. There was an uncomfortable silence.

Gloria, you are new to these meetings? What do you have to say?

I cleared my throat.

The staff is worried about layoffs. They are upset because we cut down on overtime and are unhappy about being second to Channel 3 in the ratings.

The big boss blew up.

Why are they worried about layoffs? Who told them? How did this get out? He was furious.

I didn’t know layoffs were coming. But apparently, some staff knew. I was repeating what I had heard.

He ranted and raved. He was so angry.

When the meeting was over, my boss, the new director, said, come into my office.

“What the hell do you think you are doing?” he screamed.

“What do you mean,” I stupidly said.

“Why would you tell him about the layoff rumors?”

He asked. He said we can always be honest in the manager’s meeting.

“He doesn’t mean it.” The news director screamed.

When I went into Public Relations at Sacramento State, the managers were worst than the TV people. Higher Education thrives on lies and deceit.

Bad Bosses Want You to Lie to Them

I am thinking about this because of President Trump. And how publicly he just refused to believe he didn’t win the election.

How he convinced millions of people to believe him after repeating the lies over and over and over again.

The Jan. 6 Hearings – And All The President’s Lies

I am watching the Jan. 6 Congressional Hearings, and I’m amazed at the testimony from President Trump’s closest advisors, staff, and relatives.

What were they afraid of? Losing their jobs? Is that why Republican Lawmakers refused to admit Trump lost?

Now months later, after deaths at the Capitol and suicides after, some of us worry about the future of democracy.

All the Trump insiders agree. He lost the election. He tried to fight the election in court, filing lawsuit after lawsuit, and lost. Because he lost the election. There was no fraud. The voting machines did not erase Republican votes, as one Insurrection said.

We live in a democracy. It works. We have anti-fraud measures in place.

Democracy is at Risk

But. As the Nazis proved. Repeat a lie enough times, and people begin to believe you.

The Nazis beginning with Hitler, blamed the Jews for all the problems in Germany. If we eliminate the people with a disability and the gypsies, Germany will rise again.

Trump knows this. He’s a marketer. It’s his area of expertise.

Now we are hearing from the insiders. Those inside the White House who knew Trump lost. But they were afraid to admit it. Afraid to confront him. So, they went along with the lie.

And here is the worst part—all the people who know now that he lost but continue to lie.

Why? It’s harming our country. It’s tearing us apart.

We know now why. Money. The all-mighty buck.

Lying and Money

Right now, tonight, as I write this, on June 15, 2022, at 12:16 am, Republican candidates who have promoted Trump’s lie are winning elections in various parts of the country.

The lie means power. It means money. So, we destroy Democracy; who cares? I’ll have money and power.

Here is how much money.

Trump began promoting the big lie that the election would be stolen from him before the election.

The Trump Grift

Right after the election. When he lost, he began sending hundreds of emails to small donors asking them for money to fight voter fraud.

They believed him. They still believe him.

He raised 100 million dollars the first week after the election.

That’s called Grifting. Here’s the definition.

• The word grifter may sound like slang terminology, but it is an American word for someone that deceives others out of the property. The simplest way to describe a grifter is as a con artist. A grifter can also be referred to as a swindler, a scammer, or a cheater.

When you raise that much money in a week, you will continue to lie.

Here’s the worst part. The money was not used to fight voter fraud. It was used to line the pockets of Trump’s friends.

The “Trump’s Big Lie Marketing Plan” raised $250 million.

Here’s where the money went.

1 Million Dollars to Trump’s Chief of Staff Mark Meadows Charitable Foundation.

$1 Million to the American First Policy Institute, a conservative organization that employs several former top Trump Administration Officials.

$204,857 to The Trump Hotel Collection.

$5 Million to Event Strategies, which funded the Insurrection event – “The Gathering of Traitors.”  

The former president of the United States is a liar and a thief.

All the people around him confirmed the lie.

That led to the insurrection.

It also led to crazy people attacking those who refused to go along with Trump.

The Story of Two Lovely Women

On June 21, the Jan 6 Committee introduced us to state officials who Trump followers tormented.

 We also heard from Former Georgia election worker Shaye Freeman Moss and her mother, volunteer Ruby Freeman aka Lady Ruby. They delivered emotional testimonies on Tuesday to the Jan. 6 committee about how former President Donald Trump destroyed their lives by using them as scapegoats in his bogus story about election fraud.

Listen to a clip from their testimony in my podcast.

Lies ruin lives. It has become a threat to American democracy.

LyingWe were lying One-On-One. It’s dangerous. It’s damaging. We do it to survive. To keep our jobs.

But telling the big lie over and over again is threatening our country.

This is a quote from Judge Luttig, who testified before the 1/6 Committee last week.

Judge Luttig: Trump is a ‘clear and present danger to democracy

J. Michael Luttig reminded everyone that Trump and his confederates not only targeted our democracy after losing in 2020, but they’re also prepared to do so again.

Michael Luttig, former Court of Appeals judge for the Fourth Circuit, is sworn-in for testimony before a House Select Committee hearing on the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol on June 16, 2022.

Let’s not do what Germany did in the 1930s and ’40s.

Talk to each other one-on-one about this. I know it’s not easy. It’s uncomfortable for many to talk about politics. This transcends politics. It’s about our future.