I hate being lied to.

As a parent, it always drove me crazy when my kids lied. It was usually when they’d done something wrong, and it always felt way worse to me than whatever they were actually lying about. Because lying is an insult. It screams of deceit and low character. It breaks trust. And it hurts. Every parent knows this.

I think that’s why, when the 10 Commandments were written, lying was included on the list, right after murder, adultery and theft. We shouldn’t do it. We teach our kids this: Don’t lie. It’s such a basic thing.

And yet every day, from the President of the United States, the lies are so obvious and so consistent, it defies logic. It’s maddening. Does he think we are idiots? Does he not care what the truth is? Has he lived so long in a golden bubble that he thinks he can say whatever he wants and we’ll all just nod in agreement? Or is he simply not talking to all of us? Is he only talking to his supporters who don’t really care what he says so long as he Makes America Great Again…whatever that actually means?

In case it isn’t obvious, I’m not a Trump supporter; I didn’t vote for him. He basically stands for everything I oppose. But this isn’t about his politics. Or his habit of bullying or name calling—which are two other traits parents punish their children for. I’m just talking about his lying.

Because Trump lies all the time.

It’s not spin or sarcasm or political positioning or any of the usual half-truths we typically get from Washington. I’m talking about bold-faced lies with a capital L.

For example…

Watching the way Trump handled the “Children being separated from their parents at the Mexican border” controversy lately was like watching a child with a chocolate-smeared mouth deny he ate the tray of brownies. It’s embarrassing. And it’s on camera.

When confronted by reporters outside the White House on June 15th about his cruel policy, he made the following statement with a straight face. Here’s a 9 second video so you can see the direct quote:

“No, I hate it. I hate the children being taken away. The Democrats have to change their law. That’s their law.

You can’t do through an executive order.”

Then, five days later, on June 20th, after increasing outrage from most US citizens and the Pope and the UN and Amnesty International and every living First Lady including Melania…guess what? He signed an executive order stopping the policy change his own team implemented back in April.

Photo: Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images

But I thought you couldn’t do it by executive order.

Oh, that’s right. He lies.

I’m not even going to bother listing the pig pile of lies that are such common knowledge. Pick any topic and Google it. The Stormy Daniels payment. His tax returns. Obama’s birth certificate. Illegal votes. Biggest crowd. Most Time magazine covers. Blah blah blah. Enough already.

There’s even a data base being kept by the Washington Post that lists all of Trump’s false or misleading statements since taking office. Apparently, he hit 3251 in the first 497 days! (Of course, this only covers up to May 31st, so we’re due for an update. No doubt the number will rise.)

Are we okay with this? This is our President. Lying. To our faces. Don’t we expect more from this office? George Washington is famous for saying, “I can not tell a lie,” when caught chopping down a cherry tree. And Abraham Lincoln is known as “Honest Abe.” What will Donald Trump be remembered as? Dishonest Don? President Pants-on-Fire?

How and why do we insist our children tell the truth, but don’t hold the leader of the free world to the same standard? And how do we inspire honesty in future generations when their President lies like it’s his job.

No matter what your political affiliation, you know this is true: If Trump was six years old and he was your child, you would punish him for lying. Maybe you’d spank him, if that was your style. You would certainly stop trusting him. You might even take him to a counselor. And when that didn’t work, you’d probably begin to suspect there was something seriously wrong with him.

All of which makes me wonder: Are we being conned? He certainly knows he’s lying. Can he not control himself? Is this part of some master plan? Or is he just lying because that’s the kind of person he is?

Because the sad truth is: I’ve stopped believing anything the President says…or his Press Secretary…certainly his lawyers and sycophants…but especially Trump. After so many statements that are so obviously and provably untrue to anyone with even the slightest interest in facts, I now suspect…if words come out of his mouth, they are more than likely false or misleading, at least in some respect.

Aesop’s fable “The Boy Who Cried Wolf” warns our children of this.

I wonder if anyone ever read that book (or any book) to Trump when he was a boy.