Trump and the cherry tree lore...

By Jim Heffernan 

From cannot tell a lie to deny, deny, deny...

When George Washington was a youngster, the myth goes, his father gave him a hatchet and young George proceeded to chop down a cherry tree. When his father asked him who chopped down the cherry tree, George said, “I cannot tell a lie…I chopped down the cherry tree.”

That’s the way I always heard the story, just as most Americans heard it. It was told to children to promote honesty at all times.

You wonder if Donald Trump heard it though.

Here’s a story that might be told about him to future generations:

When Donald Trump was a youngster his father gave him a hatchet and Donald proceeded to chop down a cherry tree. When his father asked him who chopped down the cherry tree, Donald said, “Not me. I didn’t do it.”

“Well who did then?” asked his father.

“It must have been that poor kid who lives over in another neighborhood. Or maybe it was that kid who talks funny in an accent who lives nearby,” the boy lied.

“Are you sure?” his father persisted.

“Absolutely,” said Donald. “But I can check to see who did it.”

Donald called his friend whose nickname was “Fixer.” “My old man thinks I chopped down the cherry tree and I did. What’m I gonna do?”

“Deny, deny, deny,” Fixer advised. “Always deny, deny, deny.”

Moral: American presidential history has gone from “I cannot tell a lie” to “deny, deny, deny.” 

Good luck with that, children of the future.