Thursday, September 10, 2020 - The Bob Woodward Tapes & The United States’ Shift from Duality to Unity.
There are failures that occur as the result of an oversight, from misinformation, or from a misunderstanding. There are moments when those who are responsible for leading the nation are unable to assess and comprehend facts. In these moments, one’s inability to form reasonable conclusions, and then speak and act accordingly may be overlooked; or even, pardoned.
All that can be asked is that the those who are elected to positions of leadership and authority in the federal and state governments try their best. There are occasions when determining whether a president is trying his best can be examined with objectivity. Under such circumstances, questions of morality and personal and political preference may be set aside.
If a president is trying his best, when he becomes aware of information that could endanger the lives of millions of people in the country over which he has been elected to serve, he does at least one of two things, if not both: (1) He informs the public of the information that he has become aware of; or (2) Even if he does not inform the public, he takes measures and steps to help assure that the public may be prepared for a pending crisis.
Here are the clips from the interviews with Bob Woodward, wherein on February 7th, 2020, the president of the United States of America mused, inter alia, that Covid-19 is “deadly stuff,” which “spreads through the air,” and is “more deadly than [a] strenuous flu.”
Armed with this information at least one month before the spread of the novel coronavirus claimed the attention of our city –––– leading to approximately twenty-thousand deaths, and thereafter and gradually, our country, the president did not try his best.
While it’s tempting to examine the shock value of these tapes, to do so would be missing the point. Shock and awe is what this president wants. He escalates. He does not de-escalate. He hypes up. He does not calm down.
Yet, one thing that has made 2020 a remarkable year, despite the sickness and loss of life from the outbreak of Covid-19, and despite the repeated murders of Black men and women at the hands of those who’ve been sworn to serve and protect them, is the opportunities for deeper reflection that have flooded the nation’s collective consciousness.
Not everyone has felt the shift, or taken advantage of the infiltration of deeper and more meaningful questions, along with the extended amount of time to consider them, but for those who have –––– and for those who are –––– the rewards have been, and will continue to be sweet.
Donald Trump is the old. His mannerisms, his speech patterns, his sayings, his deflections, his shiftings of blame, and his overall way of being in and of the world reflects the old guard’s creed: “If it benefits me and my friends, I’m in. And if it doesn’t, I’m out.” There’s one phrase for this way of being that expresses the shift that our nation is undergoing in a way that’s clear and direct: duality v. unity consciousness.
The presence of duality consciousness suggests that it’s possible for me to have an experience that is separate from yours: I am over here –––––– and you are over there. Whatever you are experiencing has no bearing on my experience, and vice-versa.
Part of the beauty of 2020 is that this year, and in this time, it’s possible to look back and realize that the United States has developed a more consistent history ––– and legacy ––– of unearthing duality consciousness than one might realize, at first blush. Duality consciousness was once “Separate but equal.” Duality consciousness was once “Whites only.” Duality consciousness was once dispossessing women of the right to vote.
And already, these outward-facing forms of racism and sexism have been eradicated. And what the nation is facing now is the same fight; however this time, it’s inward-facing. This time around, it’s neither the laws nor the books that this shift is changing; instead, it’s the nation’s own collective consciousness –––– from duality, to unity.
