The Associated Press decided to use a speech by anti-Trump businessman and former mayor of New York Michael Bloomberg to talk about the epidemic of dishonesty in government. 

Bloomberg talked about politicians who lie in their pursuit of power and who imagine they are above the law.  He also talked about people tolerating dishonesty in service to party and said that is more dangerous than communism or being an agent of a foreign power.

I thought for sure he was talking about President Obama's eight years, but he was clearly talking about President Trump.  Here is what he said:

[F]ormer New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg ... warned in a commencement speech on Saturday at Texas' Rice University that "an endless barrage of lies" and a trend toward "alternate realities" in national politics pose a dire threat to U.S. democracy.

In one jab at Trump, he noted that the vast majority of scientists agree that climate change is real.  Trump and his Republican allies have repeatedly called climate change a hoax promoted by America's adversaries.

"When elected officials speak as though they are above the truth, they will act as though they are above the law," Bloomberg told Rice graduates.  "And when we tolerate dishonesty, we get criminality.  Sometimes, it's in the form of corruption.  Sometimes, it's abuse of power.  And sometimes, it's both."

"The greatest threat to American democracy isn't communism, jihadism, or any other external force or foreign power," he continued.  "It's our own willingness to tolerate dishonesty in service of party, and in pursuit of power."

The first thing that stuck out to me in his example of dishonesty or lying is when he cited Trump saying climate change caused by humans is a hoax.

So...to start, I would ask Bloomberg or anyone on the same page as he is to show us any actual facts that show that humans, fossil fuels, and CO2 cause warming, sea level rise, and an increase in storm activity.

He should also explain why the Earth is only around one degree warmer (within the margin of error) when sea levels are within a few inches and storm activity continually fluctuates.  Bloomberg should be asked if it would be normal for the Earth to warm up a little after the end of a Little Ice Age.

Computer models that are continually manipulated are not proof and the climate has always fluctuated long before humans and fossil fuels were used.

More broadly, if Bloomberg wants to give examples of lying to push an agenda in a quest for power there are many choices.  Here are some.

When Obama was seeking to pass Obamacare, he and others continually lied.  His architect, Jonathan Gruber, said they had to lie to mislead the public and that the public is stupid.  Obama repeatedly told Americans they could keep their doctors and their plan and that the addition of Obamacare to them would lower premiums substantially.  These were known lies, and the dishonest media gladly repeated these talking points.  A hundred percent of Americans had their freedom of choice taken away while their premiums, deductibles, and out-of-pocket expenses skyrocketed.  Fewer than 20 million Americans appear to have been helped by Obamacare, depending on the conflicting (and likely dishonest) claims, yet Democrats and the complicit media continually repeated how good it was.  Now Trump is giving back the freedom of choice, which is the opposite of what a power-hungry dictator would do.

While we are on the topic of Obama's lies, recall also that Obama repeatedly said he couldn't unilaterally change immigration law.  Yet he dictatorially did it anyway with his Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals executive order.  Trump is trying to enforce the laws Congress passed.  The dishonest media, Democrats, and judges are acting like Trump is the problem for trying to enforce the law.

On the Iran deal, Obama's deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes admitted that the Obama administration continuously lied when promoting the deal.  They used suckers in the media who would just repeat what they said, no questions asked.  The dishonest media, Democrats, and others are pretending that the Iran deal is an actual obligation and treaty even though it was never ratified by Congress or even signed by Iran.

Of course, there were other lies like IRS, Fast and Furious, and Benghazi, but not once did Bloomberg and the rest of the media care that Obama's quest for power for him and the government was endless.

Not once did Bloomberg or other supporters of Obama say:

"The greatest threat to American democracy isn't communism, jihadism, or any other external force or foreign power," he continued.  "It's our own willingness to tolerate dishonesty in service of party, and in pursuit of power."

What is equally dangerous to our freedom is when Bloomberg News and other media outlets go along with the party abusing its power.

So pardon me when someone like Michael Bloomberg gives a speech talking about abuse of power after eight years of Obama and when we now have a president trying to transfer the power, purse, and freedom back to the people as fast as possible.

Image credit: David Shankbone via Flickr, Creative Commons SA 2.0.