The Latin word for moon is luna. It happened that since antiquity, observers have been noticing a correspondence between the nights of the full moon, and the odd behavior of some people. And so, the observers called these people lunatics.
Because
language evolves through time, the word lunatic came to be applied to anyone
that exhibits an out of the ordinary behavior. It must be said, however, that
there has been a scientific attempt to explain this phenomenon, whether or not
it is real or it is the figment of the beholders’ imagination.
The
explanation is that the moon exerts a gravitational attraction on everything
here on Earth. This is evident in the high tide of the seas. Because we too,
are subjected to that attraction, we feel lighter standing on our feet during
the phase of the full moon. And this is supposed to cause some people to engage
in odd behavior.
And
so, I use that analogy to explain why some people look at something and say
they are seeing something else; something that’s different or even opposite of
the real thing. It is as if they looked at the midnight moon and insisted that
they were seeing the sun at high noon.
My
favorite lunatics have been the editors of a number of publications who, more
often than not, looked at what was happening in the world — at times described it correctly
— but then interpreted the
thing differently so as to suit their ideological stance. My pick this week are
the editors of the New York Post who came up with an editorial under the title:
“The world is becoming more dangerous under Joe Biden,” and published it on
December 4, 2021.
The
first thing that these editors did was tell their readers what they were seeing
while acknowledging that it may not be what others are seeing. The editors went
on to say they perceive that the world had become a more dangerous place under
the presidency of Joe Biden. This done, they offered an explanation as to why
this was happening. They proposed that hostile actors around the world sensed
Biden’s weakness, therefore saw opportunities that were not opened to them
previously.
And
so, the editors of the New York Post, proceeded to list the events that were
supposedly caused by Joe Biden’s weakness, then gave an interpretation that
contradicted what they said they were seeing. When you try to make sense of
this oddity, you find it to be related to the editors’ ideological stance. It
is that they wanted the readers to believe there was a nexus between what they
saw and what their system of beliefs tells them it ought to be. But since no
such nexus existed, the editors invented the fake interpretation to make it
look like their interpretation was valid.
The
editors of the New York Post used three hot spots around the world to make
their point. They are Ukraine, Taiwan and Iran where they say that the weakness
exhibited by Joe Biden has encouraged the Russians, the Chinese and the
Iranians to make aggressive moves or play hardball with the West. But the
reality in each case is the opposite of that, as suggested inadvertently by the
editors themselves.
With
respect to Ukraine, the editors quoted the complaint of the Russian Foreign
Minister who reminded the world that NATO brought new weapons close to the
Russian border, thus hinted that Russia’s mobilization of troops near Ukraine’s
border, was a response to NATO’s moves.
In
fact, nothing like that happened during the years when the Trump administration
was on good terms with the Russians. The prevailing talk at the time was about
America not enforcing Article 5 of the NATO Charter. And there was even talk
about the possibility that the United States may leave NATO, thus cause it to
dissolve and disappear.
This
harmony between the United States and Russia vanished with the advent of a
Biden administration that went back to the Cold War years, a time when the two
military superpowers were in confrontational mode on a permanent basis. And so,
we can only conclude that it was America’s show of strength under Biden, and
not Biden’s weakness that created the current tense situation in Europe.
With
respect to Taiwan, the editors of the New York Post want their readers to
believe that Mainland China has scientists, engineers, technologists and
journeymen who are so highly skilled, each of them is ten times as capable as
the best of what America has. Their evidence is that the Chinese were able to
develop hypersonic missiles and killer satellites during the year that Biden
has been in power whereas it takes the Americans ten years or more to develop that
kind of technology.
But
if you believe that China’s scientists, engineers, technologists and journeymen
are no better or worse than their counterparts in America, you must also
believe that China has been working on these systems long before Joe Biden
stepped into the White House. This means it was America’s show of strength
during the years when the warmongers were in control of America’s foreign
policy, and not Biden’s weakness that is causing China to behave the way it
does today.
As
to Iran, the editors of the New York Post admit there was no confrontation
between America and Iran during the Obama era, and no confrontation initiated
by the Biden administration. But today’s hostilities are the result of actions
taken by the Trump administration in response to commands issued by the comical
outfit known as the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.
It
was the Jewish clowns of that outfit who engineered America’s reneging on the
Iran nuclear deal, and the imposition of maximum pressure on Iran. This means
it was America’s show of strength during the years when the Jews were in
control of America’s foreign policy, and not Biden’s weakness, that is causing
Iran to behave the way it does today.
When
you consider all of those misperceptions, you cannot avoid concluding that when
the editors of the New York Post look at the proverbial midnight moon, they see
what they swear is the midday sun.
They define the word “lunatics”.