Obfuscate. I can't remember the last time I used this word in anything I've written, and I got my first full-time reporter job back in 1974.
It's not a word you hear often, but I don't think I need to define it. Its meaning becomes pretty obvious when it's used in a sentence, and I think you'll be hearing it a lot more.
I feel the need to use it now.
As I write this post, I'm sitting here watching Donald Trump's campaign manager Paul Manafort on CNN doubling down on Melania Trump's convention speech being completely in her own words. The rest of the world knows better.
This is how the Trump campaign behaves every time it gets caught with its pants down. It lies and denies. It obfuscates the issue.
This is how a Trump presidency will behave every time it gets caught with it pants down. It will lie and deny. It will obfuscate.
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| I say this is a black and white photo of some fog. The Trump campaign says it's a full color shot of a man sitting on a horse. I guess they're right. |
Being a journalist and educator, plagiarism is probably more important to me than to many people. But I consider the offense right up there with Hillary's use of a private email server.
Melania's not running for anything, of course, and I give her a tremendous amount of credit for getting up in front of an audience of millions and delivering her speech with grace and poise.
And even though she claimed she spent five weeks writing her speech with very little help, the truth is a team of speechwriters did most of the work...badly.
This latest Trump campaign gaffe is not Melania's. It falls squarely on the campaign, and by extension on Trump himself. It's just the latest example of a trait that would ordinarily lead to their and his demise.
They can't admit to mistakes. Instead, they will always stick to their guns and obfuscate what they did. After you've listened to their spin, you're not sure anymore which direction is up.
So far, obfuscation has made most of Trump's worst gaffes virtually go away. Here are just a few highlights: mocking a handicapped reporter; denying he knew who David Duke was; claiming a clearly anti-Semitic tweet was innocent; and now trying to spin away intellectual theft.
Apply this behavior to Trump as president, and it's pretty darn frightening.
Unfortunately, Hillary Clinton is no better. She's a smooth liar who can look straight at the camera and say pretty much anything, knowing much of it's false.
I heard last night that both Gary Johnson and Jill Stein are moving up in the polls.
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