Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash
The scales of justice, lopsided, tilted to one side in favor of weighty evidence. Tossed out.
Confirmed sightings–we have a visual! Ignored. (as though the truth is a UFO)
Truth, shoved aside. Lies, embraced.
How do we get back to seeing the truth as the truth. What can we do to help others be more able to separate the good stuff from the junk?
Would it help to use the phrase made famous by James Brown (the musician), “What it is, is what it is”? For the naysayers, would such satisfy them? Would it make them see it? “Oh, I get it now”. Apparently not.
The evident truth, in the name of party politics, and for the furtherance of the same is now so often denied we sometimes come to question our own ability to fairly observe. The truth isn’t enough –that much is now evident– to sway the minds of those hell bent on things being done their way or no way at all. For the sake of political gamesmanship they, (in particular, Kellyanne Conway, a promotional mouthpiece for the President and conservatives) have made it acceptable to use “alternate facts” in place of known truths.
An “alternate” is a person, place or thing that is used in place of, or in opposition to, a another person, place or thing.
A “fact” is a thing or action that is/are, or were, apparent.
In combination, “alternate fact”, the words denote a substitute for the truth? A phony. Something which never existed, or happened. Only the lie, as a convenience, did or does exist.
According to the dictionary a convenient lie is: “suitable for ones purpose or needs; opportune; handy; accessible”. With such being true, convenient lies and alternate facts, in the furtherance of deception, fit well together.
Liar –“I did not say what you heard. (alternate fact) Ask anyone …anyone that knew what I really meant. You are a liar …you, you, doctored the recording”,
Reporter — “but Sir, people heard it with the own ears, we can’t all be lying”,
Liar –“how did you know it was me (facetiousness) “
Reporter — “What? We have you on film Sir, and the film isn’t doctored”.
Liar — “Why are you attacking me? (convenient lie, deflection)
And the crowd roars in favor of the liar.
When this combination is well used it becomes a good method of creating reasonable doubt in the minds of the most impressionable members of the public. Next thing you know, the truth becomes impossible for them to accept. As though it is invisible.
And we are where we are.
Clear and present dangers. Are never clear and present.
Obvious and apparent things. Are not obvious and apparent.
The truth revealed in broad daylight. Is cloaked and hidden from sight.
Authors Note: This article, though not a series installment, nor written as a part of any previous word work: may serve as a companion piece to an earlier story written by the author and posted online at medium.com as linked below.
https://medium.com/yabberz/misdirection-the-magical-information-neutralization-trick-c55f79c08b95
Whether it is Conway, Sarah Sanders, Giuliani, Trump or any of his supporters, “truth isn’t truth.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CljsZ7lgbtw
Republicans have made their party synonymous with lies. But even Democrats are truth challenged and often say things they think will sell better with their audience or their agenda than what they know is the truth. Republicans don’t care about truth and Democrats are afraid of truth. Take the Second Amendment for example. No intelligent person can read the Second Amendment and glean from it that it protects a right for individuals who are not part of a well regulated militia (in today’s terms, the military) to keep and bear arms. Republicans completely distort the Second Amendment to say it addresses a non-military right to keep and bear arms. Democrats go along to get along, because although they don’t believe the Second Amendment extends to non-military purposes, they will say in a heartbeat that they support a Second Amendment right to own guns. They are afraid to say there is no Second Amendment right for non-military individuals to own a gun. This is a textbook example of how Republicans and Democrats treat “truth”.
The video of Giuliani’s rhetorical soup of half truth’s and unbelievable deniability makes for good supportive evidence of how the truth has become void of appearance. He even had the nerve to say that Trump should not be questioned because it would be a “perjury trap”. He is basically saying it is not in the best interest of Trump to tell the truth so therefore it is the fault of the witch hunters.
What a scheme.
Give Trump credit for one thing: He has stripped away the veneer of respectability from American political and cultural life. He is not the outlier, he is the result of never addressing White Supremacy.
Trump, in the truest of definitions is incredible. His doesn’t give a damn attitude isn’t by chance. He was groomed to be that way. And by chance the government was set to be run by business men starting with Reagan, back when conservative minded people use to commonly say that government needs to be run more like business and the first business they would always press for first are tax cuts for business and deregulation of business. Trump fits that mold perfect. HE doesn’t pay taxes and he behaves as though he is above the law.
Yes, and unless something changes, he is above the law. The tax cuts are just part of his “grooming.” He has embraced ideologies as old as the nation. He has embraced the “Othering” of all not like him, and all who do not like him. We never addressed any of the issues that created a world in which Donald Trump could see himself as a king.
James, good to see you!
I agree. I think the reason White Supremacy has never been properly addressed is because it has remained a potent force in the country despite it being less openly displayed along the way.
The US embedded slavery in its Constitution, the country was created affirming White Supremacy. The Civil War only diminished the strength and openness of racism for a period but didn’t eliminate any of it as Reconstruction proved and since.
What Trump has made obvious is that racism remains as rampant as it always has been, he’s just lifted up the stone to reveal all the creepy crawly White Supremacists that have still been wriggling under the surface of our country.
And he has clarified why White Supremacy has never and won’t be stopped for some time, they represent the core political base of one of our two political parties.
The GOP has been the party of White Supremacy but now is just openly embracing it under Trump. How do you eliminate this racism when around 40% of Americans are either racist or racist-friendly?
Thank goodness it’s a minority and decent people who oppose White Supremacy are in the majority but we can never let down our guard, these racists may go underground again in the future but they are not going away. They need to be aggressively confronted by whichever Dem wins the presidency in 2020.
This is like the country having to live with a genetic disease, it may never be resolved, it needs constant attention and treatment to be controlled.
Hey, AdLib. It’s good to be home again. I missed you all. And now I am a grandfather of twins – one of each.
As usual, you nailed it. We sometimes become complacent, thinking we have defeated these people, yet here they are, alive and unwell. So we fight on.
One reason I am not caught up in the daily drama of the primary season is that whoever the ticket turns out to be, the choice is clear and strategic. Trump must go while the idea of that is still a possibility.
Congratulations, James! Very cool!
Yes, our mistake after the 70’s was thinking that we had won progress on social issues and didn’t need to fight to keep that progress from being pulled back.
There are no permanent victories when it comes to social justice and progress, every gain has to be defended as the next ones are pursued.
I mean, who would’ve thought back in the 1970’s that an openly racist, Nazi supporting hate monger would be president 40 years from then?
Truth, brother.
Alternative Facts, lying, half-truths, misstatements, etc are embedded in the fabric of this country. Some could argue that this country was founded on the very principal “alternate facts” to ensure the destruction of indigenous people as well as those that were brought to these shores by force.
Exactly so. But during the course of it’s growth this country, “the great experiment”, had made efforts, some will say –others will say not enough– to be more honest about it’s history as a means of bringing it’s people together in hopes of creating a harmonious existence. It hasn’t happened, and the retrospective approach of “making America great again” embraces those old ways and all the fallacies that go along with it. As evident, as I suggest, by the truth again becoming invisible as a result of being “unwanted” by the clamoring tribes of indifference towards others.
When the country models the behavior of dishonesty and lacks integrity. Our experiences become tainted with America’s hypocrisy
We are under the “rule” of a fact free, truth free administration intent ony on gaining more power and wealth. The best way to change that is to boot them out and replace them with those who recognize the difference between fact and fiction, truth and manipulative lies.
Those with the abilities of cognition and recognition would be the most fit and preferred in places of leadership for sure.