Optics

But today we’re talking about different optics. Optics in the battle for narrative control.

An underlying theme is debasement of morality. John Adams famously remarked that “our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”
Our country has had a pendulum of morality, from Puritans to Roaring ‘20s, to 1960s if it feels good, do it. But the 21st century is getting extreme. Normalizing homosexuality. Creating homosexual “marriage”. Militant feminism. Breaking down the stable structure of the marriage of a man and woman to create a family and have children raised in a stable environment. And now, crazed murdering transsexuals. (No, gender is a language structure, not biological.)

I had not watched a Super Bowl in years – the NFL lost me when it started kneeling. But I watched this one and was amazed at what a true spectacle it has become. True Roman bread and circuses. The game was almost secondary to the production. At halftime I switched away. It turns out that about half of viewers did as well. The next day I was in a restaurant and four women were behind me. One was enthused that the halftime music was so danceable. But she had just learned that the Spanish lyrics were incredibly nasty.

So, optics. The NFL clearly is all in on and celebrates leftist causes – BLM, multiculturalism, the invasion of illegals. Those lyrics could not have been sung in English, and the FCC may well decide that they shouldn’t have been sung in Spanish as well. But the fact that millions of people rejected it, and that many were eventually at least unhappy about it, is a sign that the optics have changed against the Left. The performance was a clear middle finger to normal Americans. It went beyond “don’t be judgmental” to “fuck you, there are no morals and we’ll do what we please”. J. Epstein writ large and in your face. And the latest Epstein revelations only confirm what many of us suspected – the ruling class believes that it can do whatever it wants. There is no punishment here on earth, and they don’t believe in an afterlife. Ultimate power leads to ultimate degradation if there is nothing that can pass judgement on them.

And what about the Minnesota ICE protests and shootings? Those riots dropped from coverage, and the two dead useful idiots have not turned into St. George Floyd of Fentanyl. And National Guard backup is being withdrawn. The municipalities are apparently cooperating now. Evidently, the optics of the useful idiots supporting illegal invader murderers, rapists and other criminals were not so good.

On the other side of the coin, the Trump Administration accomplishments are getting noticed. Lower crime, lower fuel prices, tariffs working, the economy noticeably improving, the ridiculous EPA regulations being rolled back – those are good optics, regardless of how the leftist media squawks.

The danger, as I have pointed out, is that the leftists/elites may be seeing that they are losing sway, that the optics are worsening for them. Virginia Democrats take control and immediately craft anti gun legislation. New Jersey passes laws trying to criminalize Federal enforcement of immigration laws. Congressional Dems insist that ICE stay away from polling places. They are broadcasting their intentions, not even pretending anymore. They cannot back down because they know they would face judgement and punishment.

2026 midterms will be telling; the lead-up will be brutal. I suspect that use of the other kind of optics will be a good skill to acquire.

So, Emily, are you ready to get started?