A few weeks ago, I posted this item about the practice of political leaders to gin up concern about some extraneous issue to distract the attention of the public from … well, from whatever it is that the leaders don’t want the great unwashed to think about.
I used the example of the president of Argentina making ugly noises about the Falklands at a time when Argentina is near to defaulting on its foreign debts.
But the practice is widespread, and ancient. A variation was ‘bread and circuses’ provided to keep the Roman plebeians contented. Magicians use distracting hand and body movements to keep their audience from noticing what they are really up to.
I was thinking about this again tonight, as I posted a comment on Facebook: “Are guns, immigration, and gay marriage the most important issues facing America?”
They are the only issues our political leaders (of both parties) seem to want to address. They are the only issues the media seems interested in.
And yet, don't you think there might be more important matters that we ought to be focusing on?
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