Comment: "Flagrant lying.... sends the message that one should not bother speaking truth to power when power is the only truth".   Nice turn of phrase by the author.  Reminds me of the GW Bush White House spokesperson deriding  "the reality based community" and haughtily sneering that the Bush WH MAKES reality.

It's even more problematic when the powerful, like Trump, do not care one whit for reality or facts.  Compound this with the fools who blindly follow Trump seem to feel likewise and that there is a payoff for them in playing along.  

Remind me of a steroid driven crowd storming into the public square to lynch someone, for something, anything, as long as there is a crowd and a leader to follow.