We’re watching this show “The Journalist,” on Netflix. It’s Japanese, watch with subtitles, it’ll rivet you, not that it’s fast-paced, but your mind won’t be drifting, you’ll be paying attention.

And what we’ve got here is a lying Prime Minister. Caught in action, self-dealing. And at first the administration evades the issue, and then the Prime Minister outright denies it.

Everybody in the administration is shocked. Now they’ve got to cover up what has already been done, because of course the Prime Minister is guilty. They need to change all the records. And whenever someone balks, their boss says they’ll take responsibility.

Yeah, right. Until the heat comes down.

It’s hard to live with a lie. A sociopath can, but most people cannot. You can employ mental gymnastics to try and convince yourself you’re not culpable, but when the facts are clear, and the heat is getting closer to coming down on you, it’s nearly impossible to live in your own skin.

Or even if they’re never on to you, never catch you, you know what you’ve done. You never forget it. Years later you still think about it, sometimes you can’t stop thinking about it.

One thing has been proven definitively, Donald Trump lied about the election being stolen, there were no issues of fraud, Joe Biden won fair and square.

Now if you’re in the hinterlands, in your own news bubble, you still may not know this. It’s possible. And your faith is in your leader, Mr. Trump, and you’ve been taught to hate the enemy at all costs.

So if you even think about it, you have plausible deniability. When we’re talking about criminal convictions, it all comes down to intent. You can convince yourself you did not know. But as we go further and further up the food chain…

Everybody knew. Just like in that Leonard Cohen song. There was no fraud, even Trump’s own officials said “The November 3rd election was the most secure in American history.”

And now there are hearings detailing that Trump’s own people told him he was wrong, he was delusional, that he lost. But Rudy Giuliani decided to sacrifice whatever credibility he still possessed to pursue Trump’s cause, even though Trump had never come through for him, never given him the cabinet post he desired. And the rest of the choir? They were outsiders like John Eastman and Sidney Powell, who did Trump’s bidding, but also knew his belief the election was stolen was a cockamamie delusion. Hell, Eastman lobbied for a pardon, knowing what he was doing was illegal. And Sidney Powell’s defense is to undercut her own credibility, to say she’s merely an actor on a stage and you can’t trust anything she says.

But what about the people in Congress?

Sure, some are completely delusional, like Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert, but the rest…they know the score, they know Trump lost. But just like in “The Journalist” they figure if they all stick together, deny, deny, deny, it’ll all blow over. And it has, until these 1/6 hearings began.

So now they’ve got to live with the lie.

First they tell themselves everybody else lied too.

But now they’re seeing people like Bill Barr distance themselves. The rats are jumping off the ship. Will the finger eventually point at them?

Somewhere in the last few decades it became about the team as opposed to the player. That’s right, in the sixties it was all about rugged individualism, going your own way. You strove for excellence, not worrying about others’ judgment along the way. You needed to leave your mark, you did not want to be hindered by society’s constraints. And those who succeeded, in many cases musicians, became beacons for society. Everybody wanted to get closer to them, listen to them, model their lives after them. There was hope that you were not just a hamster on a wheel, that you could break out of the drudgery, find yourself and fulfill yourself.

But the coddled millennials had a different philosophy. Participating was enough. Maybe it’s a result of getting trophies for sitting on the soccer bench, but if you follow the alternative sports that were embraced by the millennials, many exhibited in the X Games, winning was nice, but competitors were friends, you reveled in everybody’s success. Unless you didn’t. Shaun White may be a hero in the mainstream press, but in the snowboarding world he’s a pariah, he was all for himself. And that’s not how you play it.

Same deal in hip-hop. The east coast/west coast wars. Biggie and Tupac. Meanwhile, most of America tuned out, many being racist and seeing it as Black people killing Black people.

And simultaneously politics became a team sport. Sure, it was always a two party system, but now you couldn’t cross the party, at least on the right. Stick together, toe the party line, or you’re ostracized. Can you say “Liz Cheney”? Yes, we’ve rigged the game. We’ve gerrymandered the districts such that a Republican will always win, and if you don’t do what I say we’ll primary you, run someone to the right of you, and you’ll lose your job.

And no one likes to lose their job in America. Certainly not a Congressperson with prestige, a guaranteed salary and a blue chip health plan. But if you play the game as told, there will always be a job for you down the line, as a lobbyist, or a lawyer, the Republicans take care of their own. As do the Democrats, which is one of the reasons why people have lost faith in the system.

But there are problems. Who is going to solve them?

Well, certainly not the Republicans in Congress. Their goal is to do nothing, that’s what Mitch McConnell said.

As for McConnell, one has to give him some credit, at least he’s intelligent. He walks up to the line of immorality, illegality, and then backs off. He’s never said Trump won the election. He was troubled by 1/6, but then he realized his party was not and he just wants to have the whole thing forgotten.

But the people don’t forget. Nor does the press. That’s the press’s job, as evidenced in “The Journalist.” So, Trump and his minions have vilified the press. Anybody who says anything they don’t like is fair game, even Fox News.

Everybody in the game knows the above. They’re willing participants, believing if everybody else jumps off a bridge…there must be rescue boats in the water, there’s no way they can drown.

But when the eyes of the law come looking for them…

It’s not only Bill Barr, but Ivanka Trump, the Donald’s flesh and blood, who says the Big Lie is not one.

You see when the whip comes down, everybody saves themselves. The Mafiosi may lie on the stand, change their testimony, but that’s mainly because they know the long arms of the organization are everywhere, they can always be reached. Hell, remember when Tony kills that guy in witness protection while taking Meadow to look at colleges in Maine? You never escape from the Mafia.

And politics has been run like a Mafia business, and people are getting away with bad behavior, crimes, to the point where the entire country is gummed up, where no one believes in the system, but if you lie on the stand neither the Republicans nor the Democrats are going to pay your family, take care of you for life. Once you’re in the legal system, you’re on your own. Like I said, many of these people are attorneys, who’ve lost all credibility since Watergate, and they know what they’re doing is wrong, which is why they ask for pardon protection.

As for Donald Trump… He believes the rules don’t apply to him.

But he’s not the only one. Did you see the story in today’s L.A. “Times” about the Gettys skating on hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes? Hell, Trump himself looks like he’s gonna get away with doing the same. As for the little guy and girl…they don’t even itemize, so they can’t even cheat! Yes, the richer you get the more opportunities you have to manipulate the numbers, put in so many layers of lawyers and shell companies that by time the government understands what you did the people who were excited about nailing you have left for private practice and the entire case runs out of steam.

So one guy screwed up the entire nation.

As for protection around Supreme Court judges’ houses… Turns out if you go against the cabal, your life is in danger. You’ll be threatened. They’ll surround your house. You thought it was only abortion clinics, but it’s not.

So how does this change?

Certainly not with Joe Biden, whose goal was to calm the waters and has not. Congress is different from what it was when Joe served, radically different. It’d be like hiring Russ Solomon to run Spotify.

Not only do we have no leaders on the left, the party wants the status quo, to the point where when someone tries to drag the party into the present they’re ostracized, can you say “AOC”? The entire country runs on the internet, only the oldsters pooh-pooh technology and tell you to get off your smartphone, the younger generations grew up with technology and know giving up the smartphone would be like giving up your car, or Uber, unable to journey ten miles to see a friend, never mind go to the dentist.

As for those leading the charge… Chuck Schumer and Adam Schiff are the kind of mealy-mouthed player who talks about the rules after they’ve already been broken. Tells people to go back home after the walls of the citadel have been breached.

But what I’m really talking about is those next in the firing line. Which at this point is those in Congress.

How long are you going to be able to support the Big Lie, keep your head in the sand? You’ve been told just to lie low, the higher-ups are taking care of it. But now you see the higher-ups abandoning the cause, vociferously trying to protect their reputations.

What about your reputation?

Well, you believe your job is safe as a Republican. Your district is safe. Just as long as you play ball and spew the nonsense of Trump.

But Trump even threw Ivanka under the bus! He only wants to save his own ass, he’s the definition of a narcissist.

So who is going to protect you?

If McCarthy turns the light shines bright upon your face.

And you never know when McConnell might turn. He’s all about saving himself, his long term reputation, and keeping the party in line. He’ll let Trump and his minions do whatever they want until it jeopardizes the entire enterprise. Then he aligns with the truth and Trump has to go.

I’d say we’re looking for more good people to stand up, but that won’t be their motivation. It’s not about doing the right thing, it’s about saving their own ass. And the army of truth-seekers is getting ever closer.

Ever read “The Tell-Tale Heart”?

It’s nearly impossible to live with a lie. And if you weren’t the original perpetrator when the law creeps towards your domain, you jump. It’s the same story again and again and again.

Your friends abandon you.

If you think Tucker, Sean and Laura are gonna have your back…you’re sorely mistaken. They live in a different world from you, they’re not elected, they’re on salary, they’re all about numbers, and they run from losers. They feel no responsibility.

But the news never feels responsibility. Which is why it’s hated. They chew you up and move on. Do you want to be chewed up?

As for the criticism of the 1/6 committee?

IT’S A MOVIE!

Yes, but that’s all Americans understand. Most haven’t read the aforementioned Edgar Allan Poe story.

And they’re too busy trying to deny their own reality. Yes, homosexuality is a sin… But you’re homosexual, or your son or daughter, what do you say then? And what do you say when they have an unwanted pregnancy? When it comes home, action is taken. That’s why there’s all this hoopla about opioids, it’s middle class whites who are dying now, not just “those people.”

Life is long. Sure, it’s over in the blink of an eye. But you know as well as I do your faux pas, your moral transgressions, never leave you. Leaving the scene of an accident. Cheating on the test. Lying to your spouse. You’d think it would be the victories that stuck in your brain, but that’s not how your noggin works. It’s the intentional mistakes that haunt you.

And even if you do come clean, it’s oftentimes too late. You’ve been labeled a pariah.

And if the game continues, if you never stand up for the truth, the collateral damage continues to pile up and you know you’re responsible. That’s what happens in “The Journalist.” People die. They get in the way, or they can’t live with the lie.

Ignorance is bliss.

But in truth once you get off the sidelines and start playing the game, almost everybody knows the score. No one says the Warriors didn’t win the NBA championship. And the Houston Astros stole signs and the team will be tarred by this forever, even though to a great degree they’ve cleaned house, it’s different players on the field. And they only stole signs, a relatively minor sin compared to throwing games, they still call it the “Chicago Black Sox Scandal” and it was over a hundred years ago.

So if pressure stays on. If the light continues to shine…

Expect people to crack. Because they won’t be able to live the lie any longer.

And if they don’t?

God bless America. But since God doesn’t exist, it’s gonna be a very rough ride.

Then again, when you believe in false prophets like Donald Trump you’re the chump, you’re the one who loses.

It’s your choice whether to do the right thing.

And there’s a camera everywhere, and you’re leaving digital cookies online all the time. So the odds of you being caught are higher than ever.

The elite can cheat, but not you.

And few are members of that exalted group. But one is Donald Trump. The walls are closing in. And he’s throwing everybody overboard, he’ll throw you too. At what point do you raise your head and take action to do what’s right and save yourself. That’s what we’re waiting for, don’t be surprised if we see it.

But we might not.

And those silent legislators… Will have to live with their decision forever. And forever is a really long time.