Optics and Perception

Not vice presidential
enough

Back in high school, like a gazillion years ago, my friend Billy told me "perception is 9/10 of the law." He was, at the time, consoling me over an election loss (mine) while trying to explain that girls hadn't caught up yet, that it didn't matter that my opponent was an idiot because he was a babe-magnet and I was just everyone's reliable, discreet, best friend. I might be the smarts on the board, but that didn't matter; I didn't look like a vice-president. To his defense, he drilled into me that this really sucked because I was totally qualified for the job. He was right and I knew it....so I did what I already knew how to do: I flew under the radar, instituted a massive change to how our organization prepared programming, and watched some asshole take credit for my work. Billy told me it didn't matter that the asshole took credit because the asshole would eventually fail when trying to make it function the way it should. And that they would call me to fix it. They did. And everyone knew who was behind the project's ultimate success. (50+ years later, it lives on in its own strange, inimitable way. (IYKYK) 

I learned a lot from Billy that year: how to be an existentialist (still am,) how to ignore stupid people (still working on that one,) and, obviously, the power of optics and perception. He had a great, innate understanding of how to manipulate all sorts of stuff. He was great at getting people to do things, he was an expert at shifting time frames to his advantage. But I always thought he was best at making me feel like I could control me. There were days I didn't quite live up to the tasks set before me, but Billy would always push back on my self-doubts to force me to confront the obvious: we are only victims of our failures if we allow ourselves to be victims. And our personal optics were a reflection of the stand that we should take. Our image, at least back in them olden days, should be carefully cultivate and maintained. 

We are what comes out of our mouths.

We live in a much different time now. The 60-second news cycle reduces everything to a sound byte. Between fake news, AI news, and just plain ol' bullshit, it's hard to tell what's real and what isn't. The ability to discern what is real from what isn't is becoming a lost art. My friends can all tell you I play internet police daily and call them out on bull-hockey posts. I provide links, information, and spend way too much time vetting this crap. I hate having to do it. But when I see garbage info on friends' sites, I can't NOT respond. And I constantly say, "DO YOUR OWN DAMN HOMEWORK!" 

So when Zohran Mamdani came on the scene with his non-statements about his earlier statements, I kept waiting for someone to ask the most important question of all. No one did. Instead, they kept hounding him on a statement he made in several places, including on FOX-News NY morning show.

On June 5th, Zohran Mamdani appeared on Fox's Good Day, New York and was asked whether or not he supported Israel's right to exist as Jewish state. He answered:I'm not comfortable supporting any state that has a hierarchy of citizenship on the basis of religion or anything else…. Equality should be enshrined in every country in the world. That's my belief.

If you are so inclined (as I am) to hear it for yourself, here's the link to the YouTube recording of the segment. The fun begins at minute 5:35. 

I thought that was possibly the most interesting statement he could have made regarding Israel. On the surface, it's a really cogent statement crafted to convince people he's for equal rights for all people in every country. He is subtly excoriating Israel for using Torah and Talmud as a basis for the legal system while stating that all citizens in Israel are not equal under the law. One might think that a guy born to Indian expats in Uganda might know a thing or two about religious freedom in both Muslim and non-Muslim countries.

Apparently, Mr. Mamdani is not uncomfortable with the 50 or so Muslim countries in the world that have varying realities regarding non-Muslims. His statement can be absolutely perceived that this is okay and those countries do not not need some kind of adjustment. 

Which makes me think about optics. 

How are people gonna interpret his statement? Will they examine it more closely, or will they draw the most simple of conclusions?  Mr. Mamdani refuses to address the issue of Hamas as a terrorist organization, and in the past, he has founded and supported pro-Palestinian groups that subscribe to the globalization of the intifada, one might easily draw the conclusion that, based on his speeches and recorded rhetoric, he is okay with attacks on college campuses that target Jews. At the same time, he rails against antisemitism and insists there is no place for it in New York City. 

On the other hand, he has been an ardent supporter of the DSA (Democratic Socialists of America) who support BDS (Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions) against the selling of all Israeli products in America. Both movements are not, as they claim to be, simply anti-zionist, they are against Israel's right to exist as Israel

So, which is the real Zohran Mamdani? What do his optics tell you about who he is?

Therein lies the real question no one is asking so far: as mayor of New York, would he tacitly give the shrug and a wink to the encampments and the vitriol? Would he tell them it's okay to take a stand without telling them they cannot exclude Jewish students from any campus? Will the the pro-Palestinian front take this as a license-to-behave-badly victory? 

Or will he actually take a stand against hate crimes directed against Jews? 

 

Do let me know if you know that answer to that.

Meanwhile, back at the capitol.....

As long as we're on the topic of optics, President Felon's response to the assassinations in Minnesota are the great optics of all. They just reinforce what We, the People, already know: he is a classless piece of human excrement. President Biden's presence at the Rotunda was low key, welcome, and appropriate to the moment. His presence at the funeral with Vice-President Harris was lovely.

The Wifely Person's Tip o'the Week

I'm afraid optics matter in our insta-world 

more than perception.