You would think that a prime minister of a country would not
cover an accusation of corruption with ludicrous lies. For one thing, the lies
easily made transparent by fact-checking journalists would reflect back on the
statement of innocence itself. Just being accused in public should prompt
carefully thought-out lies because the failure to sustain the lies would
naturally cause people to conclude that the corruption charge is valid. The
connector here is bad character, plus the assumption that it is easy to obviate
charges of corruption. This assumption itself may indicate that the
office-holder believes that corruption is widespread—and from this belief can
come the assumption that it is easy to get away with taking money benefitting
the office-holder and spouse. The conduct of Malayia’s prime minister Razak Najib
and his wife Mansor Rosmah between 2008 and 2015 bear out my thesis.
The full essay is at "Fabricating Dumb lies."
