“If you can’t hide it, decorate it!” the maxim goes. Thus it is that someone in the ethics-free “resistance”/ Democrat/mainstream media alliance (“The Axis of Unethical Conduct” we call it in in these parts) decided that President Biden’s problem with the truth—he ignores, distorts, and denies it regularly—must be dealt with, since part of the strategy to defeat Donald Trump is to emphasize his “falsehoods” and “lies.” So a directive went out to the Washington Post’s “Factchecker,” Glenn Kessler: “Hey, Glenn, do one of your cool columns, the ones with the Pinnochio-head ratings system, about Joe’s fabulism, but make sure you’re careful which whoppers you mention, and make sure you don’t call them ‘lies.’ Trump lies. Joe…well, you know, he just does what he does, but it’s no big deal, in fact it’s kind of endearing.” And whoever it was—heck, it might have been Dr. Jill, Chuck Schumer or Merrick Garland!—added, “And besides, it will be good for you, too! It will prove that you’re objective, fair and non-partisan!”

The Post dutifully agreed, because it is not objective, fair, or non-partisan. Neither is Kessler, whom I have tried mightily over the years to regard as a man who tries to do his job ethically, but because bis biases make him stupid, can’t quite manage it. Ethics Alarms officially recants that sympathetic assessment. Yesterday’s Post feature by Kessler headlined “Biden loves to retell certain stories. Some aren’t credible” clinches it. Kessler is a disgusting hack with no shame or integrity, and the Washington Post is a full-time agent of the Democratic Party and an enemy of democracy.

As for its readers…well, I’ll get to them.

“President Biden, like many politicians, likes to tell stories — stories that attempt to connect his life story with his audiences and make up an essential part of his persona,” Kessler begins. He uses a “everybody does it” approach right away, mitigating Biden’s serial lies and sliding over the fact that lies from the president of the United States are not in the same category as lies by “everyone.” “The Fact Checker” also defines Biden’s lies out of existence by labeling them “stories.” Stories are entertaining! Stories are fun! Stories aren’t lies. See, when Donald Trump said that he saw Muslims in the U.S. celebrating after the 9-11 bombings—it was on TV someplace—that wasn’t a story, that was a lie. When he described how he vehemently opposed the Iraq invasion from the very beginning (in fact, he initially said he agreed with it), that was a lie too. But when Joe says that he never, ever, ever discussed his slime-ball son Hunter’s business dealings with him that’s just a story. When Joe says that U.S. citizens weren’t allowed to own cannons in the 18th Century (which he does almost every time he talks about gun control), that’s just a story too, a charming, completely made-up story, like George Washington and the cherry tree. Stating that he attended a “historically black college” while addressing an African American audience? A harmless story! Saying that Beau was killed in Iraq? A comforting story from a grieving father. Understand?

Yeah, I understand, all too well.

Kessler’s brave foray into Biden’s falsehoods doesn’t touch on Hunter, the illegal cannons, or even his recent ridiculous claim about getting Strom Thurmond to vote for the Civil Rights Act. Instead, he pulls out just five “stories” to apply his keen “fact checker” skills to, right after writing, “As president, Biden has continued a tradition of embellishing his personal tales in ways that cannot be verified or are directly refuted by contemporary accounts.”

“Embellishing!” Who can get all upset about embellishing? Then he quotes deputy White House press secretary Andrew Bates, who, Kessler says, told The Fact Checker, “President Biden has brought honesty and integrity back to the Oval Office. Like he promised, he gives the American people the truth right from the shoulder and takes pride in being straight with the country about his agenda and his values; including by sharing life experiences that have shaped his outlook and that hard-working people relate to. And as Americans know, there are countless moments from every person’s own history that are not covered in local newspapers.”

“Here’s an accounting of some of Biden’s favorite tales,” Kessler says. Tales. Stories. Embellishments. The words “lie,” “lies,” “falsehoods” and “misrepresentations” don’t appear anywhere in the piece; nor does Biden rate what Kessler calls a “bottomless Pinnochio” rating, which he selectively applies to false statements a public figure makes over and over again despite the facts being publicly and authoritatively refuted. Almost a year ago, as recounted here, Kessler did award Joe a “bottomless,”for his claim that he had traveled more with Chinese dictator Xi Jinping than any other head of state. That was weird, but it’s now clear what was going on: Kessler needed to show Biden wasn’t getting special treatment, when he was, and is. That same week, Kessler brushed aside the issue by writing, “Readers have asked for fact checks of a variety of recent Biden statements, but none of them seemed big enough for a stand-alone fact check.” Joe’s claim that he had lowered gas prices from the $5 a gallon price they were at when he took office? Not big enough. Taking credit for the cost of living increase in Social Security, which was already built into the system? Not big enough either. Now, Donald Trump exaggerating the size of his inauguration crowd, that’s big. All clear?

The truly depressing aspect of Kessler’s nauseating spin job, however, is how Post readers kept spinning. It’s a “whataboutism,” Trump derangement orgy in the comments section. “Wake me when he tries to overthrow the government…..” says one useful idiot. “How credible was it, Glenn, when Republicans say there were ‘still questions’ about Biden’s presidential election? How credible are Republicans when they try and convince their flock that Republicans are the party of law and order? How credible are Republicans when claim that global warming and climate change is not man-made?” writes another true believer. Here’s one for the books: “I don’t know about the rest of you, but I like my stories with a little embellishment. Makes ’em more interesting. But seriously, WaPo, why give the right more ammo? Now Fox will pick up on it and say “see, even the liberal Washington Post says he’s a liar. Biden is going to be running against the entire right wing media infrastructure in 2024. Why help them?”

Kessler is even accused of being a Trump and GOP supporter for his careful, deceitful acknowledgement that Biden makes stuff up to defuse a problem that can’t be covered up. The corruption of public ethics and perception runs deep. The Axis is doing an excellent job.