There's the Truth ... 

At some point, all Americans—including Utahns—need to face the truth. But it seems that the lies of America's sorest loser are still holding a significant portion of our nation's minds hostage. The adulterer-fraudster-liar-cheater-in-chief was tossed out on his ear by the American voters but, somehow, the evil still persists.

Almost a year after our democracy proved, once more, that our election system really does work, there are still Trumpublicans who are unwilling to face the facts. January 6th passed, but treason is still in the air.

After a week in which Trump's Arizona election humiliation was thoroughly confirmed, the even-bigger loser continues to lead his cheering section in delusional victory songs. Even worse, other states' Trump supporters, including some Utahns, are talking about doing more election audits, similar to the one just concluded in Maricopa County. How many times does it take? Trump lost.

Let's face it—Trump's reality was never about the art of the deal. Even his fairy godmother couldn't fix what was, mostly, a lifetime of losing the vast inheritance given to him by his father.

While "The Donald" always claimed to be the premier self-made wizard of business acumen, one must look far and wide for any of his ventures that actually made any money. Conversely, the boneyard of discarded businesses, bankruptcies, court findings of fraud and money bleeding out through every crack and orifice was the typical scenery of Donald Trump's so-called business empire. With the exception of his TV show—a bonafide hit in its time that earned millions—it's questionable that he was ever a winner.

But there's no question that the Comb-over Clown does have a special gift. It is virtually his entire legacy, and it's called the Art of the Lie. Without the slightest hint of a blush, Trump is a man who will never speak the truth. America's fact-checkers and nose-measurers have verified thousands of lies, many so stupidly outrageous that even a child could easily ferret them out.

As repugnant as Trump's blatant dishonesty was during his reign in D.C., most of his fabrications fit, almost, into the category of "idiotic jokes"—ones like how his inauguration audience was the biggest in history. Even the seeing-eye dogs knew how ridiculous that was, and overhead photo coverage gave a much grimmer view. His inauguration crowd was actually one-third the size of the one at Obama's 2009 celebration. Similarly, Trump's Sharpie re-drawing of the Hurricane Dorian weather map made for a good laugh.

Simply, the truth didn't matter—Trump's need to be a superlative spawned more than one inauguration lie. His account: He inferred that God had personally intervened with the weather, that there was no rain during his speech and that, as soon as he'd finished, it began to pour. Fact: The rain began immediately after he commenced speaking. That lie was stupid but harmless.

Outrageous claims continued predictably—like being the valedictorian at his university graduation when he actually received no honors whatsoever, or knowing nothing about the $130,000 payoff to Stormy Daniels, and the campaign claim that Biden intended to do away with the Obamacare essential of providing health coverage for pre-existing conditions.

If Trump's nose had grown only a millimeter each time he lied, it would now be more than 1,000 feet long!

Sadly, Trump's lies have hurt Americans. His claims that COVID-19 was equivalent to the flu, was under control, and would soon disappear proved false, and thousands of ill-informed Americans ended up dying because they relied upon their president's words.

Trump's only legitimate brag is the gross naivete of his followers. The Republican Party and the just-plain-ignorant seem to enjoy being fleeced. There are no signs that their leader's dishonesty has changed their loyalties. Sadly, his loss of the 2020 election should have ended his run of glorified corruption, but we all know what happened when the loser claimed that despite the verified voting numbers, he'd won.

I don't know about you, but what we're seeing is a significant part of America that's totally detached from fact. How can such a subhuman creature still dominate and intimidate so much of our population, and why are fairy tales being accepted as the new form of reality? Of course, there has always been a certain percentage of voters who subscribe to conspiracy theories, who reject all mainstream media, and who generally distrust the establishment. Trump should not be a factor in our politics, but he is.

Even the Arizona Republican-run vote audit, confirming that Trump lost by an even greater margin, didn't force the orange nitwit to confront the truth. In multiple disjointed statements since the official results were released, Trump has continued with his nonsensical defense of his "Stop the Steal" campaign. Now he's actually claiming that there were lots of "terrible, terrible votes" in Arizona, that voting crimes have been committed and must be vigorously prosecuted, and that the audit, somehow, proves that he actually won. (Here's an example of the math: One plus one equals eleven—Trump's a mega-genius, so you can see why he graduated at the top of his class.)

Along with the other grossly misled, there are Utahns who are so fully invested in Trump that they're willing to sell out their souls to the Big Lie. Some of Utah's own leaders have asked for an AZ-style audit. We definitely shouldn't be wasting our money and time trying to placate America's all-time super-extortionist.

We have reached that juncture, when Utah must reject a man who is everything our parents warned us about and get back on the team of truth. It is simply an act of destructive delusion to believe that an amoral monster is the answer to any of America's problems.

The author is a retired businessman, novelist, columnist, and former Vietnam-era Army assistant public information officer. He resides in Riverton with his wife, Carol, and the beloved ashes of their mongrel dog.