Now I get it! We hear things differently each time some new concept is introduced or keywords are mentioned. Our only line of defense against predators who know this construct is our own discernment (or what we call common sense).

The political football being tossed around during the presidential campaign, for example, is distracting with rhetoric by the figureheads so the legislature can get a majority lead for the party of choice – the real power – because whoever votes for the president is really voting for the party. The power and real decision making has always been in the legislature (where supposedly the voices of the people are heard). You just have to hope that they really do represent the people and not personal interests. Also, the presidential wars can sometimes effectively distract from the significance of local, state, judicial, educational, and national positions.

But getting back to the rhetoric, Mitch Albom said it best in The Little Liar: “… here is the funny thing about truth: the less real something seems, the more people want to believe it.”

I said today was a quote day! People tend to obfuscate – obscure the truth – because it is easier and reinforces beliefs or denials. It is easy to go online and talk with someone for hours or days, sometimes even weeks before uprooting your life because all the right words were spoken. But shock of all shocks, what they said wasn’t the truth (or not totally), or they were phishing or gaslighting. Really?

And like I mentioned in the other post about Horton, it acts as a shield against unpleasantness. But I think those shields are made of paper and can be destroyed very easily. Of course, when they are destroyed people tend to blame instead of owning up to their own inactions or inabilities.

Truth is not always pleasant, and being confronted with it is usually forcefully. I saw one of the campaign commercials where a woman had stated she had been pro life until she had to get an abortion to save her life. Imagine that, having a personal reason. And then there were the ones where former Trump supporters were pledging their allegiance to Kamala for different Trump actions that they finally acknowledged. What I don’t understand is why they didn’t hear him when he was telling them what he was about – it was never a hidden agenda, so what did they hear?

I stick with the old adage, if it walks and quack like a duck …