But the fact that these minions are too smart to have done these dumb things on their own kind of misses an important point. Yes, Spicer is too canny to want to go out on his first day and tell blatant lies. But how about too honest? Apparently, he was not so constrained by shame about lying that he wouldn’t go out and spin insane tales in public. Why is that?

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Why is it that anyone who operates with a core principle of basic honesty is working for a man who has demonstrated thoroughgoing contempt for the truth? Hmm? Why? If you found yourself in Spicer’s place, and Donald Dishonest instructed you to go out and tell obvious lies to the nation, what would you do? There is only one correct answer. You might think the correct answer is to say, “Sorry, Mr. Prevaricator, I won’t do that. Here is my resignation.” Good, but not quite good enough. The correct answer would have come earlier, and is, “Sorry, Mr. Madman, being a self-respecting human being, I have no interest or intention of working for you in the first place.” You don’t just “find” yourself with the job of being a spokesman for somebody like Trump. You desire, seek and accept the position.

And herein lies a larger lesson. These people are still allowed to describe themselves as traditional-values conservatives. This should be henceforth disallowed. If you don’t have any regard for the truth whatsoever and are prepared and eager to sell your services injecting lies into the American public discourse at the highest levels, then you have no business claiming to be a traditional-values anything. And if you don’t believe that truth is something worth conserving, then there is no meaning or worth to the term “conservative” either.