Imagine that some major human catastrophe is coming and the people in power know that there isn't enough protection available to save everybody. What do you think they'll do?
They will lie to the public and save themselves, that's what.
This is a big reason why lying should be heavily penalized when it comes to people who are being paid to serve people, not just their party (and donors). And there are plenty examples of this, including instances where people have died because of politicians' lies. Flint, MI, is a classic example, but there are many other examples throughout history.
Moreover, the whole process of passing such an act would further expose those who routinely lie by creating a tremendous hullabaloo that would wake people up to the very fact of the amount of lying going on.
But how would such legislation be implemented? How about something like they get fined for the first x number of instances? (It isn't the money that matters; it's the notoriety, including media attention--like WaPo's Trump lie count.) After that, the liar could be censored or demoted or put on unpaid leave, depending on their status. If after that they are caught again, then they are impeached or fired.
Now, I know you're thinking about the mechanisms and procedures that would have to be developed to identify the liars and the lies. You are undoubtedly asking yourself how can a lie be determined, reported and acted upon? And what about the fact that sometimes an official may have to lie for the sake of public safety or national security? I think the latter is the easy part. After all, a person can always say that they can't answer the question because they don't know the answer or because of national security or public safety reasons...as long as the reason why they can't answer is not just another lie.
Whatever is the acceptable alternative to lying, it must be made clear that elected officials cannot lie to their constituents without a damn good reason. It's time we stopped allowing politicians to blatantly lie without penalty. It's also time to force the media to call them out, too.
Actually, I think that such a law might encourage (reward?) the press for doing their jobs, including exposing the self-serving liars who have populated our government lately (and increasingly).
Perhaps it would take something like the creation of a new Office of Public Ethics, perhaps housed within the house judiciary committee, to record or otherwise document and and report regularly on instances when elected officials lie. It also seems to me that whistleblowers are not dissimilar to those who would report lying. I realize it isn't a simple matter, but I think it could be worked out--and it's certainly worth trying. Heck, there might already be laws on the books about it. What are what are elected officials responsibilities toward those who elect them and who, figuratively, sign their paychecks?
I don't understand why this isn't obvious to the democratic leadership. It is a real safety factor when the public doesn't know what's right or wrong, what to do or not do, who to trust or who to distrust. There has to be some acknowledgement that the truth can indeed be a life-and-death matter and thus that lying should have a hefty price tag--and some serious negative exposure, too.
If you can think of any other way to get the media to actually stop being lap dogs--a la Chuck Todd and Fox news--then I'd sure like to hear it. In fact, yesterday, I heard a talking head on Morning Joe ask, "what happens if the day before or two days before the 2020 elections, Trump tells a whopper--or even worse, if he enlists the military or some other entity to do or communicate something guaranteed to infuriate or scare the crap out of a big chunk of the public? What if Trump blows things up just at the right time to make it impossible for Congress to effectively counteract the impact of the explosion? What if there aren't enough ethical people in the government willing to risk their jobs to expose the danger? What happens then? Will the people even listen? Will they believe? Will they question?
Legislation that highlights the issue of just how increasingly common it is for public officials to lie to the public they are supposed to serve might produce more positive answers to those questions I just asked.
In fact, this is why I am so tired of the old farts in Congress. They may know in-house squabling strategies, but they sure seem to be clueless about the best ways to get the populace to take notice and/or educate people. I admit that some Congress critters are beginning to acknowledge the tactics that Trump uses to mislead and distract, but they still haven't yet figured out how to strategize in the same way the Steve Millers in the White House are capable of. They are also clueless about the very tactics that Trump is using that they themselves could use as well. Getting the right kind of media coverage to inform and even, sometimes, to frighten the public should be paramount in the minds of both the candidates and the leadership right now.
But you know what I bet? Unlike Obama, who used mostly relatively young, innovative people to create effective messages, I'll bet it's old farts themselves who are advising old farts in Congress. Old farts tend to go with what they know, including the people they know (instead of new, "plugged in," young talent).
I think doing something about the blatant lying going on would be a great start. After all, who could possibly disagree with doing something about the fact that we are basically paying people to lie to us?