‘You Can’t Lie Your Way To Freedom’: Timothy Snyder On Truth And Accountability | Rachel Maddow

Timothy Snyder, author of "On Tyranny," explains that a person who is beholden to a lie isn't really free, and how accountability contributes to reinforcing the truth that releases a person from being caught up in a lie like Donald Trump's false claim to have won the 2020 election. Aired on 01/07/2021.
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'You Can't Lie Your Way To Freedom': Timothy Snyder On Truth And Accountability | Rachel Maddow

86 comments

  1. “The highest art of warfare is not to fight at all, but to subvert anything of value in your enemy’s country.” Yuri Bezmenov, former KGB

    1. @lennie bostone if I had job and my business was good, I wouldnt care whoever would win this election. Because I would be too busy to care election things. But now it’s different because of the pendamic.

    1. @Georges Dupuy Lying on purpose repeatedly should be forbidden, just like holocaust denying or yelling “bomb” on a plane – freedom of speech has limits too

    2. @Freedom Fighter One more thing, GOP had 60+ opportunities to prove fraud in court, but they all failed – are you saying all 60 judges were democratic hacks?

    3. Also expel the congress members who voted to object to the certification of electors. The lie would not have carried as much weight if they had come out with the truth soon after the outcome of the election was reported.

    4. Cruz and Hawley and others in Congress that hyped “the big lie” need to be censured and removed from Congress even if not actually prosecuted.

    1. it’s impossible to prosecute trump w/o an impeachment. so we’ll see, but i doubt they’ll do it while he’s in office.

  2. You are so right, arrest them and let the world see America stand by their own word.

    1. @Grailer The problem here is that there are many good republicans out there that would never be a part of the raping of the Capitol Building and our democracy. They can’t all be imprisoned. However, all those that were there or supported/helped them get there? Those I could whole heartedly agree with you about.

    2. @Hi Ho There is a difference between Republicans and Trump supporters. The way one knows they failed at parenting is if your adult child bring home a Trump supporter.

    3. @The Truth Is Out 777 God Almighty Jehovah’s Done with trump. Just like Pharoh Nebukanizer Saul, God Almighty Jehovah’s remove them kings and place David. The Lord Jesus Christ has settled this evil that is in America

  3. Big words: Freedom isn’t doing what you feel like doing and saying what you feel like saying without thinking of the consequences…

    That’s illusion and that would only bring an end to the republic

  4. Consequences for everyone from trump on down is the only way to (possibly, hopefully) prevent it from happening again. Much can happen in 13 days.

    1. Yeah, and as I recall Trump, last summer during the protests in Oregon, called for anyone damaging federal property to get a sentence of 10 years.

    2. T rump and T rump Jr. and Rudy and Cruz and Hawley and all the others that kept repeating the lie to bring the T rump cult pot to a boil need to be charged and prosecuted and jailed.

  5. These people took oaths. It’s not just a question about freedom of speech ..or that anyone can tell a lie. These senators have broken the oath. The president has broken the country. The rioters and terrorists ended up causing harm and lives were lost. And these lies has divided America. Get your sh*t together and start fixing the country!

    1. @HoboMaster deleting history is the best way to remove “blueprints” and evil ideology for any future fascists. Netflix had a program called “How to stage a coup” . Ironically what I saw on the 6th looked like the end scenes of that documentary. Erase evil names from history book and celebrate good people. Get rid of MSM that feed off chaos and terror . A peaceful utopia where everyone is happy and friendly is my dream.

    2. @Grailer it is not erasing history to not want to celebrate evil people. Statues of confederate generals can be put in museums.

    3. @HoboMaster well in NZ we had a mass murderer and our PM refuses to say his name. I can’t even remember his name either. It’s as if he never existed. He will rot in prison for life.

    4. @Misan Certainly the majority are not saying it, but I have seen interviews, esp. with people the the Proud Boys, were some have said this, esp. about Democrats they consider traitors for not worshiping trumP like they do. Other MAGA folks just listened, probably not approving but not speaking against it either. This is how Hitler started, remember that despite serving a prison term for the failed Munich Putsch [coup], he was later elected by the big minority in a four or five party race and was asked by President Hindenburg to form a government. He quickly manufactured a crisis and things then got politically worse week by week until 6 years later Germany starts WWII and the Holocaust.

  6. Little late to fix it because as a people they have already lost their integrity. And it’s not easily to restore it.

    1. @rhonda drop I was just going to say I don’t think they ever had any🤣🤦‍♂️
      Rudy Giuliani thinks integrity is a new hair dye

    1. Fill the streets America! Lawfully PROTEST and DEMAND trump’s removal! Give your politicians the PUSH they NEED! Get out there! Or let it get worse over the next two weeks!

    2. Then the left should be punished…..as it will come out…
      It was Antifa and the left that breached the capital….

    1. The most frustrating factor of Trump and his toads is that never in my life have I not been able to lay my hands on persistent douches. Worst case, I could physically remove someone…

  7. “Freedom makes a huge requirement of every human being. With freedom comes responsibility. For the person who is unwilling to grow up, the person who does not want to carry his own weight, this is a frightening prospect.”

    1. @Peter-Klaus Nikolaus Hopefully not. The only honest thing to do now must be to remove him fron power at once.

    2. @The Truth Is Out 777, no chance! Trumps days leading the nation are over and when thousands of people realise that he doesn’t give two hoots about their welfare he has feed them BS and used them just as he does everyone in his life except his immediate family. I don’t see American people as that unintelligent however many disenfranchised their voices unheard were very vulnerable and ripe for Trumps cultish rants and promises. The mans intellectual capabilities right now are in pretty bad shape he can’t distinguish between fact and fiction he’s delusional and has just thrown his supporters under the bus without any qualms or responsibility for his role in the entire disgraceful mobs riotous seditious behaviour. Trumps infectious virus has no vaccine however it can be cured with critical thinking, researching and fact checking and generally logically thinking. Trump will never run for President of the Republican Party again I will bet my life on that, his antics have almost destroyed the GOP.

    3. @The Truth Is Out 777 He can’t run again bc he will be serving his sentences in Jail flushing TOILETS…2024 is his prison Cell #..

  8. Hitler got away with something like this, and the result was that he took over Germany, then the continent and almost the whole world.

    1. Hitler was imprisoned for many years after attempting an extremely similar coup before coming to power. That didn’t stop him. So can you imagine how much more momentum Trump will have by comparison if he is *not* put in a cell?

    1. One problem is all the decent Americans who won’t recognize reality. They think the country is better than this. It isn’t. 57% of white voters and 61% of white males voted for this ridiculous liar, cheat, and bigot.

    2. @Kermit T. Frog Yes, and what is truly crazy is that Trumpsters think that ransacking of the the US Capitol is an acceptable form of protest but taking a knee at a sports event is an unacceptable form of protest. WTF !

    3. Yes the USA has been losing its credibility for awhile, but the last four years has speed up the loss of credibility.

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