Keller @ Large: Why Politicians Keep Lying To You

BOSTON (CBS) - Remember when Jimmy Carter won the presidency in 1976 by promising "I will never lie to you"?

That seems like a long time ago.

Nowadays, lying – or, to put it politely, disinterest in true facts – is standard operating procedure in our political culture, a truth documented by top ten lies of the year lists just out from fact-checkers at the website Politifact and the Washington Post.

It should come as no surprise that Donald Trump has the most entries of any politician, including his whoppers about seeing thousands of people cheering the fall of the World Trade Center on 9/11, about the Mexican government shipping criminals to America, and his gross distortion of the number of Syrian refugees our government wants to admit here.

The only surprise is that so many people who say they're fed up with lying politicians are rallying around a candidate with so little respect for truth and facts.

But Trump has plenty of company across party lines.

Politifact cites Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid for his completely false claim that Planned Parenthood provides the only health care for 30-percent of American women.

And the Post calls out our very own Sen. Elizabeth Warren for repeating and embellishing a false claim about the extent of auto dealer markups as part of her push for new regulations on auto loans.

Why do they do it?

Because they think they can get away with it.

And the truth is, as Trump's success demonstrates, they can and do get away with it way too often.

And you, the voter, have to ask yourself an important question – do I care enough to start being more skeptical about the garbage they're trying to feed me?

Listen to Jon's commentary: