19 February 2016

Montana Democrats continue to start press releases with a lie

Jason Pitt and his mendacious bosses at the Montana Democratic Party were at it again today, sending out a press release that started:

Gianforte’s a multimillionare. But he lives, works, votes, and made his fortune in Montana. He’s not a New Jersey anything. He’s a Montanan, a Montana multimillionaire. And Pitt and his xenophobic, mendacious, bosses know it.

Yet they persist in starting their press releases with an obvious, demonstrable lie. I’ve never encountered anything like it.

When I find a blatant lie in the first sentence of a press release, I stop reading. Nothing in the rest of the press release can be trusted. That’s why in Public Relations 101 students are taught to stick to the facts.

This isn’t the party’s playing bad cop to Steve Bullock’s good cop. It’s the party playing stupid in a way that does not make Bullock look intelligent.

And by not issuing a public statement admonishing his political party to tell the truth and to show some respect for Gianforte and everyone else who had the wisdom as adults to move to Montana, Bullock is signaling that he approves of the “New Jersey multimillionaire” lie.

That’s a mighty peculiar way to build a reputation for honesty. Perhaps Bullock has decided that belonging to an honest political party is the wrong way to get re-elected.

Does this trouble everyone? No. More than one cynic has advised me that lying about Gianforte is just politics and not a big deal. The great sin, they tell me, is pointing out the lie instead of repeating it with the conviction of a man who knows the lie is Heaven’s revealed truth.

Yes, some Democrats have sunk that low.

My advice to them: take no pride in being lowdown. Climb out of the slime, cleanse yourself in the righteous rains, beg the Lord’s forgiveness, and help Montana’s Democrats make an honest party of themselves.