And, of course, wives are always right
It all started in a joking way … I carried two glasses of iced tea outside to a table, then my husband came up a minute later and asked, “Which one is mine?” (I add a little sugar to mine, he likes his tea plain.) I flippantly replied, wives are always right — so my tea is on the right.” Now I often jokingly add this expression as we are ending a “discussion.”
But this is what happened one late-August morning as we were finishing an early breakfast. He looked out the glass door and exclaimed, “There's a bloom on that Clematis vine by the deck!” I looked where he was pointing, but did not see any bloom and said, “You must be looking at a funny-shaped leaf because that particular Clematis blooms in April — the dark purple ones on the other side of the yard are the only ones that bloom all summer. “
He insisted — so I opened the door, walked out on the deck and looked carefully — and I came back in and announced, “No blooms. Wives are always right.” Then … we both marched out — and he pointed out one actual, but almost-invisible bloom.
Now, why did I miss it? It was quite understandable — and could easily happen to anyone. I even took photos from several different angles to indicate how easy it was to be deceived. I listed the reasons I was fooled:
- Early morning light on an overcast morning was very dim. 2. The flower was “pointed” away from me, so that I was looking at the underneath side of the petals, which were a pale green like the leaves, rather than being a light purple like the upper side.
- “Everyone knows” that this Clematis (which looks almost exactly like the wild variety so common around here) blooms in early spring, and the label on this plant from Moose Valley even said, “blooms in early spring.” Now it was late August.
4. And, of course, wives are always right.
OK, so I was mistaken. Now … have you ever been fooled? Take a deep breath, sit down and think hard before asking yourself the next question: “Who won the 2020 presidential election?” Note that this question has nothing to do with motives as to why President Trump claimed victory. Was he given bad information? Was it wishful thinking? Etc.?
We can almost never determine another person's thinking — but that is not the question here. So just look at the two entities most likely to know all the intricate workings of an election, to see what actually happened. We, the on-the-ground voters in rural Idaho, were not there to oversee the tabulating of votes — but first our Department of Justice, and second, our court system, both have the ability to investigate any irregularities in the system — which both groups repeatedly did. Both United States Attorney General William Barr (appointed by President Trump) and over 60 court cases (many of them tried before federal judges appointed by President Trump) determined that the election was legitimate. Surely Attorney General William Barr and the federal courts knew what was really happening? I also checked the well-known information-organization — Snopes.com — to make sure those last statements are accurate — but please check out any non-biased sources for yourself, on your own, and let me know if you find anything different.
So, how did so many people in our country get fooled? Stated in a generalized way, I was fooled about the clematis blossom because of:
- Various factors can make it very difficult to discern reality (in my specific case: dim light, plus leaves and underneath-side of petals being similar in color, etc.)
- Looking at situation from only one angle, from a distance.
- Relying on everyone's "common knowledge."
- Seeing with my own eyes, but already convinced I was 100% right.
Some of the above four generalized factors which led me to be deceived about the clematis can perhaps also affect decisions which others make when answering the question of “Who won the 2020 Presidential election?” It took me three “looks” to see the clematis bloom — so others may want to take more “looks” at the 2020 Presidential election.
As Mark Twain reportedly said, “It's a lot easier to fool people ---than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.” But take heart, all of us are fooled some of the time. The important thing is to pick ourselves up … and to check out the facts … and to keep on “looking.” (Personally, I think that President Trump legitimately lost the 2020 presidential election because there is no evidence to the contrary.)
JO LEN EVERHART
Boundary County