...one has to have some sense of what the truth actually is. Many Liberals simply don't have this capacity. And those that rise high as politicians are the most self-deluded of all. As a firefighter/EMT, I see this all the time. People who are raised in environments where there is no reward for telling...or even remembering... what actually happened, have a different mechanism that occupies the same part of their mind, that truth does in a well-raised person.

It's basically a matter of behavioral conditioning. At a very early age, a kid learns quite effectively to observe whomever he or she is talking to, for signs of displeasure at what they are saying. They know that saying what the authority figure in front of them doesn't want to hear, is likely to lead to pain.

Now this person may be their mother. Or it may be some other child in the household, who sits higher in the food chain than them. Most of these households are fatherless. The lack of a central arbitrating authority contributes mightily to this pattern of dysfunction. But that lack, means that the child does not have to think beyond the current moment, to later consequences, for the most part.

They know that if they can manage to get out of trouble in the moment, that the emotional force of whatever happened will wear off, and it will be forgotten. So their focus is to supplicate.

They do this by starting to talk, and carefully observe the reaction of the person they are talking to. If they get a good reaction, they stay with that line. If they sense that what they are saying is not being well-received, they quickly switch to another line, until they get feedback that tells them they are on track again. They continue this until they get a signal from the AF (authority figure) that they are satisfied. Then, that *becomes* their story. And they are sticking to it!

I can't count the number of times I've heard those exact words from people in the projects, or other households, where there are no good male role models, to act as arbiters. It's a hierarchy thing. It keeps kids from being beaten better than any other strategy in those circumstances.

They aren't lying. They aren't capable of it, literally, since what actually happened has no value to them, with regard to their immediate desired outcome, which is to escape punishment.

I have to laugh at the current situation. President Obama got elected by telling middle America what we wanted to hear. And he's very good at that, and many people bought it. Those on the far left, supported him vociferously, because they knew he didn't mean much of what he was saying, but had to say it to "fool" the middle-of-the-roaders.

Now it turns out that he wasn't lying about many things, that they thought he was. He is a narcissist, who craves power and attention. And he will sincerely stick to his story, no matter how many times he has to revise it, in light of public reaction to it. He's got *NEW* friends now!