Did you ever go to an exotic place or do something unusual, and talked about it to a friend that neither went to the place where you went, nor done the unusual thing that you did?
If you went through such an
experience and thought it was a big moment in your life, imagine what a bigger
moment it will be if the friend that never went to the exotic place nor done
the unusual thing, looked you in the eyes and said: You may have gone to that
place or done this thing, but I truly believe that what you've just described
is neither what you saw nor what you did. I am certain of this because I know
better even if I did not go to that place nor done the thing you say you did.
So, think about it. What do
you believe your reaction will be? Would you not be inclined to pick up the
phone, call the nearest madhouse and tell them you have one that just flew over
the cuckoo's nest?
Okay, that's where the fun
ends. So now you want to know what this is about. I'll tell you what it's
about. It's about Clifford D. May demonstrating the power that urban legends
have for creating myths that take on a life of their own and become embedded in
the culture. You'll get detail of all this when you read the article that
Clifford May wrote under the title: “Why Assad crossed Obama's red line,” and
the subtitle: “He calculated, correctly, that he could commit war crimes with
impunity.” The article was published on May 23, 2021 in The Washington Times.
The paragraph that follows is
a condensed version of the article that Clifford May wrote. It is where you'll
find the details that lead to the conclusion the urban legends with which
Clifford May was indoctrinated while growing up, made him what he is today. It
is evident that the legends left such a powerful impression on him, he relies
on them to interpret the world, rather than accept the eyewitness account told
by others, no matter who they are, and how close they are to him. Here is the
condensed text:
“This tale is told in Jody
Warrick's book. A fine reporter and a talented storyteller, Mr. Warrick details
the history of the Syrian civil war. What is in dispute? Whether America's race
to destroy Mr. Assad's arsenal of chemical weapons was a success or failure.
Before I tell you what Mr. Warrick thinks and what I think, let me sketch out
the background. Starting in 2010, the Arab Spring sparked upheavals across much
of the Middle East. In 2011, President Obama declared that the time has come
for President Assad to step aside. In 2012, Mr. Obama drew a red line. Mr.
Assad crossed it. Vladimir Putin brokered an agreement under which the Syrian
president promised to surrender his chemical weapons. Despite assurances, Syria
failed to give up all its nerve agents. In 2017, Assad again used sarin. He
remains in power. Mr. Warrick writes: The disarming of Syria had been a great
triumph of multilateralism. Call me a cynic, but the facts and evidence he
reveals in his deeply researched and highly readable book do not lead me to that
conclusion”.
So, there it is. Despite the
fact that Clifford May admires Jody Warrick and respects his work, he rejects
the Warrick conclusion that disarming Syria of its chemical weapons has been a
great triumph. Clifford May rejects that view because to accept it, he'll have
to dismiss the urban legends with which he was indoctrinated while growing up.
And he will not do that under any circumstance.
It seems that unless he
personally observes an event, the universe which rose in Clifford May's imagination,
and on which he relies to interpret the events he is told about, will not allow
him to visualize what others say they saw if what they say does not match what
he has in mind. Thus, instead of dismissing the universe of mythology that's in
his imagination, Clifford May will dismiss any interpretation that's based on
the observation of someone else if it contradicts the urban legends he grew up
with. And that’s never healthy.
What can be the cause for
injecting this kind of attitude in a society?
We don't have to go far
looking for the reasons why this phenomenon has developed in America, and why
it is spreading throughout the society. Just look at the Clifford May article;
it’s all there. Ask yourself: What are the topics being discussed? Well, there
is the use of chemical weapons in war. There is interference in the internal
affairs of a sovereign country. The possibility of confrontation between two
superpowers. The destruction of a country. And a refugee problem on a scale
that boggles the mind.
Yet, with all of this on his
plate, what topic did Clifford May choose to elaborate on? None of the above.
Instead, he saw a dispute as to whether America's race to destroy Assad's
chemical weapons was a success or a failure. In trying to resolve this
conundrum, he adopted the Judeo-Yiddish haggling approach whose specialty is to
generate a ton a verbiage without moving the discussion one iota towards
resolving the conundrum.
The truth is that at this
stage, America is being pushed down the Judeo-Yiddish tube, and no one is doing
anything to rescue it from a very unpleasant fate.
It is obvious that the
solution to this problem lies in the rejection of the Judeo-Yiddish haggling as
a mode of communication. To be effective, such rejection must begin with the
media and the politicians.
What these folks can do to start the healing process, is swallow their pride and ask the still unspoiled people of academia to help them relearn how to communicate with each other effectively.