Neal Gabler laments that none of Donald Trump's followers seem to care that he's a serial liar. Here's my question: How often do Americans ever change their minds about a politician because he or she says things that aren't so? Lies are something that are only bad when the other guy tells them. When your guy fibs, it's for a good cause or it's a misunderstanding or he was misinformed by his staff.
If you loved Reagan and hated Bill Clinton, "I did not trade arms for hostages" was not a lie but "I didn't inhale" was solid proof that "Slick Willy" was a congenital prevaricator. And when Al Gore said he invented the Internet, that was proof he was a liar (even though he didn't say that), whereas George W. Bush and Dick Cheney never misrepresented anything about Iraq.
One other thing: Gabler says "If you look at Politifact, the Pulitzer Prize-winning site that examines candidates' pronouncements for accuracy, 76 percent of Trump's statements are rated either 'mostly false,' 'false,' or 'pants on fire,' which is to say off-the-charts false." That's true but misleading. A more correct way to put it would be "If you look at Politifact, the Pulitzer Prize-winning site that examines candidates' pronouncements for accuracy, 76 percent of the Donald Trump statements they chose to analyze are rated either 'mostly false,' 'false,' or 'pants on fire,' which is to say off-the-charts false."
I think Politifact is pretty good and pretty fair but they do pick and choose what to scrutinize. They don't evaluate everything anyone says in public.