Looks like an ass? It’s easier to fool people than to convince them that they have been fooled.

“To quote Mark Twain, It’s easier to fool people than to convince them that they have been fooled.” I was smug in my delivery and thought this explained perfectly why after a verdict of guilty for 34 felonious accounts, there is still ongoing support for Donald Trump. People would have to admit they have been fooled. But, this is where I got stuck. Have I admitted I have been fooled?

I have been on the planet 65 years, somewhere in that time, I got fooled. What did it look like when I was? Did I double down or own it. A few weeks ago, I wrote about laundry sheets and almost clean not really fresh laundry. I have rushed to buy products with cleverly misinformed marketing. But really, how rigorously do any of us admit we were fooled?

Before my Boston move, I read about a Boston council person who had a car accident and was subsequently cited for numerous charges that included driving an unregistered car, driving an uninsured vehicle and driving without a license which was revoked in 2014. The plea was not guilty. Lately, a lot of commentators lead with two things can be true. Well, this sin’t one of them. You don’t have a drivers license, so how do you plead not guilty to driving without a license. Your car is not registered, so how to you plead no guilty to driving an unregistered car? Sure, a plea of not guilty works for a line of argument to have charges dropped, but, there is duplicity involved. The point is, there were staunch supports for reelection of the council person with the rationalization, the good out weighs this little dust up.

Does it? A friend eloquently described how she could not support this candidate for re-election to fundraisers. I don’t recall her exact words, but she stated how the council person willing and repeatedly disregarded the law and that can not be supported and rewarded. For me, that’s what it looks like. It’s not taking it personally as I have been fooled and misled. It is to clearly express what actions that have come to light and what information that is now disclosed has influenced a choice of candidates. It makes it objective, this is a lawmaker and these are laws that were broken^.1

Scams are on the rise and people are rightfully fearful. Fraud and scams are often underreported because people don’t want to admit being duped. So, is a little grace in order? Next week, Thelma arrives in movie theaters. The writer/director Josh Margolin based the movie on fraudsters phone scamming his grandmother. Can shift the context and deem that act of calling out frauds and scams as heroic? This week, considered being fooled. What are the times you’ve been fooled? How did you handle it? How do we show grace to ourselves and others when duped?

---

---

---

¹ This is different than a protest with the knowledge actions may run contrary to law enforcement.