Victor Davis Hanson: “What are the consequences of lying about or exaggerating one’s past or stealing the written work of others? It depends. Punishment is calibrated by the stature of the perpetrator. If the offender is powerful, then misremembering, misstating and misconstruing are considered minor and aberrant transgressions. If not, the sins are called lying and plagiarizing, and deemed a window into a bad soul. Thus a career can be derailed. … Contemporary postmodern thought sees the ‘truth’ as a construct. The social aim of these fantasy narratives is what counts. If they serve progressive race, class and gender issues, then why follow the quaint rules of evidence that were established by an ossified and reactionary establishment? … The Greek word for truth was ‘aletheia’ – literally ‘not forgetting.’ Yet that ancient idea of eternal differences between truth and myth is now lost in the modern age. Our lies become accepted as true, but only depending on how powerful and influential we are – or how supposedly noble the cause for which we lie.”