There is a famous aphorism that a lie can make it halfway around the world while the truth is lacing up its boots. The provenance of the quote is somewhat disputed. Some have misattributed it to Mark Twain, others to Winston Churchill, and going even further back, satirist Jonathan Swift penned a shorter version of the line, writing in 1710 that 'falsehood flies, while the truth comes limping after it.'

We're sure if searched back into the writings of Roman satirists, we'd probably find a similar expression. But regardless of who first came up with the saying, we were somewhat shocked to see it incorporated into the official platform of the Democrat Party in recent years. 

OK, just kidding about that last part ... maybe. 

Obviously, the quote pertains to the historical effectiveness of propaganda. And for most of our lives, it has been true. Even in recent years, it took AGES after the media slandered Donald Trump with lies like 'suckers and losers' and 'very fine people on both sides' for those falsehoods to be debunked. 

We think that has changed now, however, with the purchase of Twitter by Elon Musk and the institution of his Community Notes policy. Now, within hours of someone circulating a lie, Musk's vox populi mechanism can expose it almost immediately. 

That must suck for Joshua Reed Eakle, the president of a group called 'Project Liberal.' Last night, he posted a deceptively edited video trying to show that Musk had abandoned his four-year-old son while leaving the stage at the Trump victory rally in Washington, DC, after the November election. 

No, what is disturbing and saddening is not the chopped-up video, but the lengths to which leftists will go to spread false propaganda about Musk or anyone associated with Trump. All because they want to eliminate waste and corruption in the federal government. 

As you can see in the tweet above, Eakle's tweet was slapped with a Community Note almost immediately. Here is the full video, posted by Mostly Peaceful Memes, which was used as the basis for the Community Note.

All of a sudden, what was 'disturbing and saddening' became just an adorable video of an exuberant young child and his father who loves him. 

Musk is not a perfect man and is certainly open to criticism. But one thing no one can say about him is that he does not adore his children. We saw that recently when he brought his son into the Oval Office with him as he answered questions with Trump and the little boy absolutely stole the show. 

Here's a tip for Eakle or anyone like him: if you find yourself lying and editing a video of a small boy and his father to make a political point, you just need to give up and go away. Because you have no argument and your lie is going to get nipped in the bud before it can gain any momentum. 

It wasn't just shortened, it was deceptively spliced. 

Someone should get Eakle one of those word-of-the-day calendars because he doesn't know the definition of 'integrity.'

Isn't this what the left loves to call 'disinformation'? Where is Nina Jankowicz when you need her? (Oh, that's right; she's writing for The Bulwark now, LOL.)

It is a level of moral depravity that, frankly, we just can't comprehend. 

There is another group that lied about children recently. They're called Hamas. 

Not the best company for Eakle to be keeping. 

The people who love to be lied to will -- and did -- eat it up. But we still find it encouraging that his lie was stopped dead in its tracks in less than 24 hours. 

And many of the likes Eakle did receive weren't actually from real people. 

We wonder how much Eakle paid for those 'followers.'

Of course. It's all they have anymore. 

Even after the lie has been proven, we wouldn't put it past a network like CNN to air the deceptively edited clip. 

But Scott Jennings will have a field day with them if they do.

HAHAHAHAHA. 

To cite another famous saying, that is what is known as Eakle getting 'hoist with his own petard.'

Propaganda and lies will always be a problem; they always have throughout the history of human civilization. But we're still grateful that modern tools like Community Notes are around to keep up with the ever-evolving technology and call out other kinds of 'tools' like Joshua Reed Eakle. 

In his case, the lie didn't even get out of the starting gate before the truth had laced up its boots and lapped it.