Condemn lying to Congress about impeachment, immigration, Jan 6th, elections

"Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities." Voltaire was right. Lying in public life undermines democracy. Please take it seriously. Lies and deception by politicians about well established facts, about groups of people, and about recent history are one of the defining features of totalitarianism and fascistic states. Steve Bannon talked about "flooding the zone." And his advisee Trump too the advice to heart. I am appalled by the new tolerance for lies in public life: Congress allows itself to be lied to. Most recently Trump appears to lie about peace with Iran. Many GOP refuse to accept the truth that the 2020 election was fair and Biden was the legitimate winner. January 6th denialism has been espoused even by GOP members of congress whose lives were threatened during the insurrection. Now Trump wants to erase his impeachments and - to his disgrace - Mike Johnson is all in for it. Lies can also be part of strategies to foment division and violence against immigrants or other categories I am appalled by the normalisation of lying in public life. I hope you are too. Refusing to inhabit the same world of agreed truths about recent events undermines the shared foundation of reality and logic required for a democracy. I ask you to speak out to condemn: lies about the 2020 election, lies about vaccines, lies about January 6th, lies about Trump's impeachment. And all other lies in public life. Please form a working group to discuss actions that can be taken against lying. I urge you to take actions -- even if only a censure is possible -- against all who have lied to Congress. And please take a lesson from the Welsh: Recently Wales passed a law to make lying by politicians illegal. That law won't come into effect for a few years. Here's how it will work: "The law focuses exclusively on election candidates and members of the Senedd. It does not introduce a general ban on lying for everyday citizens.What is banned: It specifically makes it a new criminal offence to make false or misleading statements of fact to help a candidate get elected.The consequences: Politicians found guilty of deliberate deception through an independent judicial process could be disqualified from office."