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Truth or...

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When confronted with an inconvenient or uncomfortable truth…

My Backstory

Today is May 31, 2022. Last week, 19 children and 2 adults were killed at an elementary school in Uvalde, TX. As I watched the details unfold on television and social media, I got sadder and sadder. I can’t comprehend what the parents and families are going through and I have no words to comfort them.

I’m simply keeping them, their loved ones, and the Uvalde community in my thoughts and prayers.

But watching the politicians and news organizations twisting and turning to either support gun law changes or defend the 2’nd Amendment and NRA is making my head spin.

It also made me consider the notion of truth in today’s social climate. And how we often try to obfuscate things to avoid inconvenient or uncomfortable truths.

Example Truths

For example, here are some recent truths that have struck me as undeniable in today’s American culture—

  • Mass killings with assault weapons

  • Police killing people of color

  • Unfair distribution of wealth

  • Undermining the rights of women and the LGBTQ+ community

  • Lack of action on global warming / climate change

  • Escalating healthcare and prescription costs

  • Systemic racism

The Playbook

And it seems like when faced with inconvenient or uncomfortable truths, we seem to apply a well-developed and effective Playbook to obfuscate the truth that includes—

  • Denying it

  • Blaming something or someone else for it

  • Waiting for people to forget it, the news cycle goes on

  • Calling for an investigation, studying it, or gathering more information

  • Expressing or feigning outrage about it, but doing nothing

  • Calling for a moment of silence

  • Telling outright lies about it, and when challenged, doubling down

  • Pretending that it’s too complex or nuanced to solve

  • Instilling fear in something or someone else

  • Buying time, then buying more time

  • Saying words, but no actions to fix it

  • Listening to or referencing social media or media outlets that align with our beliefs

  • Spreading misinformation about it

Example – Reasonable Gun Control Efforts

Just to explore one of the truths more deeply, look at this small sample timeline of mass killings in the United States and ask yourself…

  • Columbine (CO), 13 killed – 1999

  • Sandy Hook (CT), 26 killed – 2012

  • Orlando (FL), 49 killed – 2016

  • Las Vegas (NV), 59 killed – 2017

  • Parkland (FL), 17 killed – 2018

  • Uvalde (TX), 21 killed – 2022 

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_shootings_in_the_United_States

In over 20-years, what has been done—

  • In the states

  • In the Congress

  • In the Supreme Court

  • In the firearms manufacturer’s community

  • In the NRA

  • Anywhere…

To fix this?  

See the Playbook: denial, waiting, blaming others, feigned outrage, misinformation, more waiting, obfuscation, buying time…by sharing euphemisms like—

  • Guns don’t kill people, people kill people

  • There are already “billions” of laws on the books, we don’t need any more

  • It’s a slippery slope to losing our rights

  • It’s a mental health issue

  • We should arm the teachers

  • They want to take away ALL of our guns

  • It’s a liberal socialist plot

To redirect everyone’s attention.

The answer seems to be—

When confronted with an inconvenient or uncomfortable truth?

Do nothing…

I pray for this to stop.

I pray for true leadership in the United States.

I pray for an effective Congress.

I pray for a balanced Supreme Court.

I pray for the underprivileged.

I pray for my (and your) children and grandchildren.

I pray for media truth-telling and responsibility.

I pray for us to be…Better.

I pray for more people to “See the Playbook” and hold ourselves and others to a higher standard of responsibility.

And every chance I get, I will endeavor to not execute the Playbook, but speak the truth to others. Even if that truth is inconvenient or uncomfortable.

Stay agile and Truthful, my friends,

Bob.