The Emperor’s New Clothes

This whole thing of the “Trumpets” going along with every word, lie, or incomprehensible babbling, reminds me of a story I read as a child titled, The Emperor’s New Clothes by Hans Christian Andersen.  Basically, a con man convinces the King that his “birthday suit”  is a robe made of the finest materials on Earth.  The King asks the palace guards and the courtiers what they think of his new robe.  It is only when the King has a parade to show off his new robe, is the charade exposed.   The peasants along the parade route are all cheering.  It was a child in the story who cried out, “The King has no clothes”.   I think the Republican Senators and Representatives are the guards and courtiers.  To keep their positions in the palace, are all telling Trump they believe his lies, even though they know better.

Wikipedia calls it pluralistic ignorance. My definition is where everyone goes along with a lie because they think everyone else believes the lie. If any of you have tried to reason with or convince a Trumpette about any of the exaggerations or outright lies our President has foisted on the American public.  I expect you have found a strong resistance to accepting any facts that sane educated people believe are true.  That’s why I stated on the home page that most adults are unlikely to change their minds.

In the story, my belief is that the King once confronted with the unvarnished truth realizes that he has been had.  No matter what facts, proof, or evidence our President is shown, I don’t think he is capable of believing anything other than his delusional narrative.  He truly believes that he is a stable genius who is smarter than all of us and for that matter anyone else in the world.

Postscript 1/13/2018 – Saw a clip of Robert De Niro at National Board Review say, “Come on people, It’s the emperor’s new clothes.”  I admire him greatly.  Nice to know that we think alike!