You have to repeat the lie, even if you don't believe it

 

Apparently today's Republican Party has some new requirements for management positions:  you have to at least state that you believe the 2020 election was stolen from Donald Trump.

Even though it wasn't.

The revamped Republican Party turns Trump’s lies into a loyalty test

"New reporting from The Washington Post’s Josh Dawsey suggests that fealty to this Trumpworld idea is becoming a litmus test for people seeking (or hoping to retain) jobs with the Republican Party. The effective ouster of Ronna McDaniel as the party’s chair and Trump’s confirmation as the GOP presidential nominee meant an overhaul of the party itself. Among the changes: quizzing at least some potential employees on their views of the 2020 election."

Further down in the column, a sign of authoritarism is discussed:

" “[L]ies can help ensure the loyalty of subordinates who are forced to repeat them,” Marquez wrote, more than three years before the 2020 contest. “These kinds of lies need not be credible at all to people outside the regime. The more incredible a lie is, the more it can credibly signal loyalty to a political leader in conditions of low trust. When a subordinate repeats an obviously ridiculous claim he or she is degraded, and bound more closely to the leader.”

George Orwell’s famous quote from “1984” comes to mind: “The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.”

From the top down, to be a true member of the GOP, you have to believe a lot of lies. Or at least say you do.