Would you buy a used car from a salesman who had lied to you on previous deal? No way. Not only that, but I wouldn’t do any business with that dealership again. I think we could agree that it is not wise to buy a used car from a known liar.

Now why do I raise this question? It seems to me that there are people out there who would never trust a used car salesman who was a known liar, but they will vote for a politician who has lied to them more than once.

Why do we get played for suckers by professional liars? Because they tell us what we want to hear. What I am describing here is a colossal lack of wisdom—what we sometimes call common sense—but what is increasingly uncommon sense. It came to mind recently when I was reading the introduction to the Book of Proverbs.