Lying season has arrived.

Our devices are starting to become more and more crammed with political campaign ads. That wouldn’t be so bad except the campaign tactics are the same as when little Johnny is asked how a rock got thrown through the front window.

You lie. Then you lie some more. When you’re done with that, lie again.

Why is it if we lie to congress, it’s a felony but if congress lies to us, it’s politics?

Recently, an ad on YouTube said Republican Congressman Jeff Crank made health care more affordable and accessible. A few minutes later, another ad said Crank made health care less affordable and accessible.

Neither is entirely true. Neither is entirely false.

Crank voted in favor of funding for some veterans and mental health care initiatives and to expand some health plans. That’s far below what the pro-Crank ads claim.

He also voted against extending COVID-era tax credits, comparing them to “blank checks” written by congress to insurance programs. That’s not restricting health care, it’s bringing it back to pre-pandemic levels.

This nonsense isn’t going to stop until after the November election.

That’s because Democrats have targeted the race after internal polling by Democrat Jessica Killin’s campaign found the candidates in a statistical tie, with Crank leading Killin 45%-44% — inside the poll’s margin of error — with 11% undecided.

All of the ads are targeting that 11%, hoping to convince them that Crank is either a saint or a sinner.

Killin is hoping to become the first Democrat elected from the district, which overlaps nearly entirely with El Paso County. It’s understandable that the Democrats would aggressively pursue the seat. It’s understandable that the Republicans would aggressively defend it.

But the tactics? Ugh.

Those come straight from old Adolf. Remember Him? The sociopath with a bad moustache?

He formulated the concept of “the big lie” in his book “Mein Kampf.”

Adolf’s toady, Joseph Goebbels, synthesized and refined that concept.

“If you repeat a lie often enough, people will believe it, and you will even come to believe it yourself,” Goebbels said. “Propaganda works best when those who are being manipulated are confident they are acting on their own free will.

“A lie told once remains a lie but a lie told a thousand times becomes the truth.”

Our current political lies have germinated the oft-held beliefs that the Republican Party is entirely fascist and the Democratic Party is entirely socialist. Both are untrue, although those elements exist.

The lies, with the relentless engine of social media, are pulling more and more people toward the ideological fringes. Politicians nearer the center are being beaten in the primaries by extremists.

It’s easy to see why. We want to believe the lie. We want to believe we are morally and intellectually superior. We want to believe those other people are bad and stupid. 

The only path back is to reject the lies. It’s easy to reject the lies we disagree with. Redemption comes only with rejecting the lies we agree with as well.