We spend our days listening to the latest bunch of horseshit coming from Trump's mouth. Or citing Voltaire and telling ourselves just to tend our own garden, and still coming back for more. And turning to Rachel Maddow as she documents how he lies, or Morning Joe as he and Mika rant about how he lies. And passing on terms like "Liar-in-Chief."
And some of us, like me, when we talk about him at all, insist we should ignore him and focus on the real problem, America's willingness to follow a liar for various self-serving reasons, because we're white supremacists, because we're greedy, because we're just clueless. Part of the school of thought that suggests we have the government we deserve. We have a narcissistic/mean/lying leader because we didn't work hard enough to create a government that would protect us from one, didn't elect leaders that would prevent gerrymandering, would get rid of the Electoral College, would make sure the Supreme Court remained apolitical, etc. Didn't vote in large enough numbers, so that the swamp critters were able to take over. We have met the enemy and he is us, in other words.
If that's the case, that what we have is a working democracy after all, but it's just that we're not living up to the fact that a democracy only works as well as its constituent members, then we're faced with two options: throw in the towel and live with our fellow stupid/lazy neighbors as best we can, or get more involved and use every trick we know to maintain optimism and work to make things better. We can fix this; we simply need to get more involved.
That's been my approach for years. I've admired friends who travel to other states to knock on doors at election time because they know California is already in the Democratic camp and our vote doesn't make a difference - it's not about voting; it's about getting to people in places that will ultimately turn the tide and making a more effective difference and allow myself to believe that's just not me. I can't do that much. It's not that I believe it's a foolish use of resources for such a meager payoff - I do believe that, but I also believe one engages in the right cause because not to engage in the right cause, no matter how futile it might be, makes you a lesser being. I shoot my mouth off because it comes naturally, and call that my contribution. It ain't much, but it's what I've got to offer, and it beats doing nothing. Not by much, but it is not nothing.
Another thing we can do is pass on bits of information to friends and anyone who will listen we think will help make a more informed electorate. Get those who read to read the right stuff. Stop worrying about the fact that so many of us don't read, or read only what confirms our current understanding of the way the world works, and keep forwarding things, or posting them on Face Book or on blogs or even on the nearest telephone pole.
I've been thinking a lot lately about stupidity. First off how easy it is to be stupid, to not think before speaking or acting impulsively. In the best of times I have defended stupidity, arguing that one of our most important rights is the right to be stupid. What I mean by that is that if you are wise you will recognize that life is an endless process of learning how easy it is to be wrong and that you have to allow others to speak freely so that you can claim that same right and we can all engage with the knowledge we have at any given moment and hope that somehow, in the exchange of views, truth will out and those of us who are wrong can be put right. Or you might want to defend the stupid by declaring it's more important to be kind than to be right. The older I get the more I'm inclined to take that route, as well.
But I'm not inclined to be kind, at the moment. I'm inclined to want to be right. Like many people, I'm overwhelmed by the pandemic and how it sheds light on the need to be right. False information isn't merely distracting at a time like this; it's dangerous. Watching the First Idiot suggest we might ingest bleach or use an unproven medicine to cure the disease is bound to kill people, perhaps even more than withholding the truth is. His enablers are not going to correct him and warn the public. It's up to people who become aware of the mendacity to do it somehow.
Speak out. Share stuff. My Lutheran background implanted the voice of Luther in my head which I hear all the time saying, "Be sure you're right. Then go ahead."
That's where it came from, probably, this sense that it's important to be right - from my religious upbringing. Don't kill. Don't steal. Don't lie, yes. But also Be Right. This highly imperfect man, Luther, he continues to speak to me. It's important not just to act. You've got to be right, as well. And that includes knowing where Luther was wrong, as he was with his anti-Semitism, but where he was right, as he was when pointing out the need to stand up to corruption and abuse of power. And with the importance of being right.
A heavy responsibility. It means lots and lots of work. You've got to gather information, check it, check it again. Argue with the conspiracy theorists and the willfully ignorant and the lazy thinkers, recognizing the risk you have of falling into any of those categories yourself.
But you can do it, I tell myself. It means getting a good night's sleep so I can go through the day with a clear head. Exercising more so I keep the oxygen flowing to the brain. Eating well, so I don't give in quite so much to the allure of chocolate, which makes me fat and lazy and inclined to waste time with lousy movies on Netflix. Resisting the urge to bash what you don't like, like organized religion. Recognize and embrace Luther - when he's right - not when he's wrong - and also Ecclesiastes, when he says "Let your moderation be known to all men." Maybe don't cut out the chocolate entirely. Just keep it down.
OK, that's enough of a pre-breakfast ramble this morning. Time to go down for my morning allotment of butter. With the vehicle that supplies it, called toasted bread.
But first, let me share with you somebody who I think has gotten it right. His name is Conor Friedersdorf. My first inclination is not to take him seriously since he obviously misspells his first name. Unless he intends it to be pronounced "Coe - ner," which I doubt is the case. I know the rules of English spelling. I think he should get it right and fix that.
But in the spirit of following Luther, with all his imperfections because when he's right, he's right, I'm recommending Conor to you this morning.
His article in The Atlantic is right on, I think.
Trump isn't the liar we all insist he is. Sure, he lies. Over a month ago The Washington Post published an article entitled, "President Trump made 18,000 false or misleading claims in 1,170 days." But Conor has made the case that we're focusing on the wrong thing. What's really wrong with Trump is not that he lies or that he lacks a moral compass but that he lacks grey matter. He's a stupid man.
And if the Democrats do the right thing, they will spend less time calling him a liar and a scoundrel but then crediting him with being a crafty fellow. And more time pointing out what a mistake it is to allow somebody who lacks what it takes to lead the Executive Branch of government. Until we have a legislature willing to stop ceding so much power to the Chief Executive, we can at least get rid of Stupid.
Have a look at what Conor has to say, and tell me he doesn't make a great case.
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