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The hypocrisy meter has been in meltdown since Sunday, when news broke of the attempt on Donald Trump's life.
It went into overdrive as world leaders tripped over themselves to deplore the botched assassination in Pennsylvania. Of course, they had to say that, if only as insurance in the event Trump is returned to the White House. But a good many of them would have secretly harboured the same thought other ordinary people expressed with immediate abandon on social media - pity the bloke missed.
Even Xi Jinping, whose country had been the target of so much racist scorn during the Trump presidency - "China virus", "kung flu" - chimed in with well wishes.
Trump himself didn't hold back. The arch polariser who for years fanned division with his violent rhetoric, now cast as the victim-martyr, was calling for national unity.
Yep, the man who at an earlier rally mocked Nancy Pelosi's husband, savagely beaten by a Trump supporter in a home invasion.
The man whose name the American ABC network found in 2020 had been invoked in 54 criminal cases involving violence, threats, physical assaults and even a bomb plot against Muslims.
The man who urged the crowd on January 6 that same year to go down to the Capitol and fight like hell.
"If you don't fight like hell you're not going to have a country anymore," he told supporters. What followed was one of the ugliest scenes in American history.
And then in Pennsylvania after the bullet grazed his ear and the Secret Service tried to hustle him off the stage, Trump's immediate impulse was to deploy those words again: "Fight, fight, fight." They make a mockery of his later assertion the assassination bid was a chance to bring the country together. "Fight" and "unity" do not sit well together.
Hypocrisy wasn't confined to the Trump camp. Immediately after the shooting, social media lit up with nutty conspiracy theories from the other side.
This was a false flag operation, a staged incident, a deep state plot to see Trump re-elected, they pronounced. The Secret Service had helped set up that photo of a bloodied, defiant Trump, fist raised, backdropped by the Stars and Stripes. Complete bumkum which showed no side in American politics is immune from the swill that runs through the sewers of social media.
And while it probably doesn't stand as hypocrisy, President Joe Biden managed to mangle reality in his address to the nation after the shooting.
"There is no place in America for this kind of violence - for any violence. Ever. Period. No exception," he said. "We can't allow this violence to be normalised." Sorry, Mr President, it's a fine sentiment but with more guns in circulation than people in the US, with mass shootings so frequent not all get media attention, with gun violence the leading killer of children, that ship sailed long ago. Violence is normalised. Period.
What was truly miraculous about the Trump shooting was not so much his survival but rather that it had taken so long for someone to take the shot. The former president merely reaped the whirlwind of his own violent rhetoric. It's not excusable but entirely understandable. The deepest irony is that it might just assure his second presidency.
HAVE YOUR SAY: Did the Trump shooting come as a shock? Or was it something you expected? Will it help his campaign? Email us: echidna@theechidna.com.au
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IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:
- United Australia Party senator Ralph Babet has called for actor Jack Black and his band Tenacious D to be deported from Australia after a comment - "Don't miss Trump next time" - was made onstage about Donald Trump's attempted assassination.
- Tourists are being charged more to leave Australia, as the federal government attempts to bolster biosecurity funding. An additional $47.1 million had been delivered to the biosecurity system after a change to the government's fees and charges, Agriculture Minister Murray Watt revealed on Tuesday.
- A bold plan to send Australian solar power to Southeast Asia through the world's longest undersea energy cable is a step closer to development. SunCable's Australia-Asia Power Link project has been granted approval by the Northern Territory's Environmental Protection Authority.
THEY SAID IT: "Hypocrisy demonstrates how unaccountable one is to conventional morality." - Michael Shellenberger
YOU SAID IT: Steve railed against our addiction to emojis rather than actual words.
Lee writes: "I think emojis have a very important part in communicating. Two examples for me that I will send a love heart emoji to people to show I really more than appreciate them but I would never tell them to their face that I love them. I also use them to annoy my adult children who think I just don't know what I am doing with them."
"I love emojis," writes Jennifer. "Sometimes written communications need to be wordy, detailed and complex. They can easily be ambiguous, so require much effort and careful concentration to write, read and interpret without misunderstanding. Emojis can quickly convey your feelings about a person or situation, as well as sending good wishes. Smiling faces create positive emotions. They're so much better than 'yours sincerely' or 'yours faithfully' or 'love from' which are wordy, often insincere and meaningless, sometimes inappropriate."
Phil writes: "COVID, flu and RSV are keeping people alone together in the cities. Always been the way in the bush. Meetups once a month if you're lucky. I use an emoji. It's shorthand. Just like a raised finger when you're driving or a rolled eye to a relo."
"At last there is light at the end of the tunnel," writes Arthur. "People are starting to learn that email is a good servant but a bad master. Well said, Echidna. Putting a face to a message enhances the meaning."
Peter writes: "You express my view exactly. I don't use emojis because words can convey nuance and tone. Today's inarticulacy is awesome! Incredible. I mean, OMG! Fight the good fight."