There are none so blind as those who will not see. This proverb has been traced back to 1546, attributed to John Heywood, and is similar to the Biblical verse found in Jeremiah 5:21, “hear now this O foolish people, and without understanding; which have eyes and see not, which have ears and hear not.”
It was used by Jonathan Swift (1738) in his ‘polite Conversations’ and first appeared in the United States in the 1713 ‘Works of Thomas Chalkley.’ The full saying is: “There are none so blind as those who will not see. The most deluded people are those who choose to ignore what they already know.”
And then there is the term “useful idiots,” in modern parlance a description of those who support one side of an ideological debate, but who are manipulated and held in contempt by the leaders of their faction, or are unaware of the true agenda that is driving the ideology to which they subscribe.
The election is over and we have a new president. Anyone familiar with this blog will know that my preferred candidate throughout the campaign and up until election day was “none of the above.”
The election is over and yet the battle continues. Where once in this country a loyal opposition would emerge after the votes were counted we have instead a well financed, well organized series of sometimes violent “protests.”
I would caution those participating in such protests to think through the consequences of their action. We have as Commander in Chief a man who is highly successful in business but is an amateur politician.
The learning curve for POTUS is steep, not an ideal undertaking for on the job training. Yet here we are. Those who would frustrate and impend the new President as he gropes toward a firm footing in the job do so at the peril of the entire planet. While they might very well succeed in derailing his Presidency, to do so could prove to be a Pyrrhic Victory of epic proportions.
While the protesters are marching, chanting, occasionally burning and looting (some call it ‘shopping’) and carrying signs describing Mr. Trump as homophobic, xenophobic, gynophobic, everything but anatidaephobic, none seem to question the motives of those who are funding these well organized protests, working out the logistics and creating those thousands of well-crafted signs.
To the protesters I say that never has an administration needed a loyal opposition more than this one. During the campaign many folks decried the fact that a successful run by Donald trump would put his finger squarely on the nuclear trigger. Well guess what, that’s where it is. It’s time to suck it up and for the good of the nation to organize for the purpose of educating the President in those areas of political life where he is lacking.
An openly hostile press, obstructionism and burning buildings serve only to antagonize, not to educate. Think it through, four years of Donald Trump will not destroy America, we survived Woodrow Wilson. But a frustrated, angry President, lacking political experience, is ripe for making that sort of irretrievable mistake that could spell disaster for our entire nation.
It’s time for us to either lead, follow or get out of the way.
rixlibris 
So Very beautiful.. thank you for writing something so lovely..Sherri
Reblogged this on Above The Crowd Shopping, Sherri Of Palm Springs and commented:
beautiful..
it is about time for all the fighting and all the terrible things that are going.. there alot of not to nice people in the world right now.. it is so heartbreaking.. but you did write so beautifully the way you .. May God Bless our world of people and hope and pray for peace..
Sherri
Thank you for your kind words. And for the reblog. Without regard to who won and who lost, I am heartsick that we, as a people, cannot rally around the things we have in common and work toward decreasing the differences rather than concentrating on and thereby increasing those differences.
We must all be watchfun, loud, and have hope I think. It is going to be an interesting four years,
Periods of calm tend to be uninteresting. We somehow seem to need chaos as a stimulus. Lately though it is being carried a bit too far. I still like Ike.
This is a calm, wise post. It contains the kind of voice both America and the rest of the world needs to hear.
We seem to be living in a kind of madness, where paranoia, conspiracy theories, and rage abound. We get angry, so we break things, thereby exacerbating the problem.
As you said in your response to my post, there is always hope.
Perhaps even on a global scale.
I had to look up ‘anatidaephobic’… 🙂
Thanks for your comment. This tendency to rage against change rather that seeking ways to channel it for mutual benefit is far from being productive. And, hopefully you aren’t afflicted with that phobia.
I was surprised to find there was a name for the fear that one is being watched by a duck. I wonder if a similar phobia of geese, or rhino’s, or television repairmen, exists and has a name – I mean, why ducks in particular?
It’s the eyes. Those beady little eyes. Watching, constantly watching. Arrggghhh!!!
We are literally holding our breath each day and the seat of our pants, praying hard that stupidity and foolishness will pass us by. We are watching.
Never in the history of this nation has an incoming administration faced such organized (and well financed) hatred from the opposition side. Big money from both parties is marshaled against the President and his appointees, all out of fear that he might succeed and end their gravy trains. One can only wonder if they will continue to finance their “useful idiots” for the full four years of his term.
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Too often those who cannot create seek power in their ability to destroy.
So very well said!
Thanks. Without regard to ones political beliefs we are in a sad state when so many are actively seeking to cause a sitting president to fail. To do so subverts the entire democratic process and in my view constitutes sedition. Whether you agree with this administration or not, its failure would certainly create a dangerous vacuum in leadership, one that would be felt by the entire globe.