Whatever you do, don't believe your lying eyes
A few reflections on Biden, Trump, and Gaza
When I watch President Biden’s news conferences, I see a man in his early 80s who has occasional memory lapses, who sometimes slurs his words, who increasingly looks frustrated and confused; in short, I see a man visibly in decline, a man who shouldn’t in my view be running for president for another four-year term. And then I read reports in the media that tell me that Biden’s in complete command, a master of detail, a high-energy president who’s fully in charge. How can my eyes so deceive me?
When I watch former President Trump, notably at his rallies, I see a man in his late 70s who occasionally mixes up names and details, who lashes out at his enemies (real and perceived), who always boasts of himself and his greatness, and whose preferred form of humor is to mock and belittle others. In short, I see an extreme egotist and narcissist, the very opposite of a public servant. And then I read accounts by his supporters that Trump’s the best hope for restoring American greatness, that he’s a populist who cares deeply about regular folk. How can my eyes so deceive me?
When I read and watch accounts of Israel’s war on Gaza, I see a war of annihilation against the roughly 2.3 million Palestinians who live there, indiscriminate bombing and shelling, the widespread destruction of critical infrastructure, the beginning of mass hunger that very well may end in mass starvation and death, and I see a genocide in progress, a massacre, another Nakba or catastrophe for the Palestinians there. And then I read and listen to the Israeli government’s account of its “war on Hamas,” an account largely supported by the U.S. government, and I’m told I’m witnessing a necessary battle to kill terrorists that upholds the “rules-based international order.” How can my eyes so deceive me?
Readers, are your eyes also deceiving you? Do you, like me, have “lying eyes”? Then again, perhaps our eyes are just fine … and the lies and deceit are coming from elsewhere.
This made me think of something Ruby Sales said in her interview in "On Being."
"I think that one of the things that theologies must have is hindsight, insight, and foresight. That is complete sight. And I think that fragmentation really shatters that sight, and it says that it’s not an 'I' sight, it’s a 'we' sight. And so that I think one of the things — I don’t like aging a whole lot. The ankles, the knees hurt, etc. But one of the things I do like is that from where I sit on my front porch, I have hindsight, insight, and foresight. And that’s a beautiful gift of aging."
It is too bad our egoist, narcissistic leaders never sit on their porch and ponder their desperate need for hindsight, insight, and foresight.
We are living in a post-factual, world, where truth is whatever you want it to be. A twisted world that combines the essence of Kakfa, Orwell and Huxley, all rolled into one.
War is peace.
Freedom is slavery.
Ignorance is strength.