Old saying.
What you don't know can't hurt you.
2020 reboot.
What you don't know that you don't know can hurt you.
A lot.
And there's a lot of that going around these days.
More so than ever, actually, at this writing.
The problem, of course, with the whole know/don't know hamster wheel is that, more often than not, the only way to prove beyond any, let alone reasonable, doubt the danger in not knowing is to allow the situation to play out.
In other words, one is inclined to not believe that the hand is going to experience excruciating pain until the hammer comes crashing down.
Or unless one has already participated in the process of skepticism/disbelief/full and reckless hand exposure / arrival of crashing hammer / excruciating pain.
And, even then.
We are, for better or worse, all equipped with both circuit breakers and short memory features that help us block memories that would have us curling up and spending the rest of our lives in the fetal position.
Those features are useful, of course.
Without them, every woman on the planet, so inclined, would have one baby, max.
And men would move heaven and Earth to keep from ever getting a cold the second time.
The drawback to these filters, as it were, is that they also allow for the very real possibility of repeating mistakes and inflicting additional damage.
It's a common flaw in the schematic of the human mechanism.
Entire patterns of behavior, in fact, are rooted in the concept.
"Here, hold my beer" comes to mind.
On a more contemporary note, the know/don't know paradigm is wreaking real havoc in the here and now.
And if you don't know why, no worries.
I know.
And I'll tell you.
Shortly.
A few days ago, Donald Trump gave the green light to have Qasem Soleimani assassinated.
Soleimani was the highest ranking officer in the Iranian military and what Middle East experts describe as the Iranian equivalent of an American Secretary Of Defense.
Even an American Vice President.
Unless you're been out of town, way out of town and/or visiting with occupants of interplanetary craft lately, you're already basically, if not comprehensively, up to speed on the what, when, where and what passes for why of the incident itself.
So, let's cut to the chase.
Thanks to the marvel of 21st Century trouble-making, disguised as high, tech innovation known as social media, those interplanetary visitors would, undoubtedly, be left with the impression that, among its many other wonders, America is possessed of a population, literally, millions of people who, in addition to their abilities at various occupations, ranging from barber to janitor to truck driver to Wal Mart cashier to that kid who mumbles some version of "you want fries with that" at you, can also boast of a comprehensive knowledge, scholarly understanding and expert analytical skill at and of geopolitical dynamics, with a specialized expertise in Middle Eastern matters, military strategy as it pertains to global stability, not to mention, of course, their obvious and oft expressed expert interpretations of Constitutional law.
Of course, the average participant in that stable genius round table has a delightful way of trimming through the geekspeak and wonkwording that clutters up the hard rock bottom line and translates it into a user friendly, one phrase fits all interpretation, good for all occasions, age groups and/or ball cap embroidery.
For example, in regards to this latest international incident, something along the lines of "well, hell, our president shore did open up a Costco size can of whup ass on them towel headed mother fuckers, dint he?"
Why, yes. He dit.
Just one thing, though.
And here's where that know/don't know thing enters the plot-line.
99.9 % of those volunteer geniuses....
Don't know what the hell they're talking about.
And that's not a diss. That's just the way it is.
And always has been.
If, for no other reason, just like you can't possibly know how to, for example, do open heart surgery if you haven't learned how, you can't possibly know how to navigate the complexities of international politics simply because you know how to put Fox News on your remote's favorite channel list.
Fair being fair, the whole "not knowing what the hell we're talking about" thing isn't a new kid on the block.
It, too, is a common, and ancient, flaw in the human mechanism.
And none of us are immune.
Indifferent, perhaps. Ignorant, pretty possibly.
And, then, of course, there's the always impish arrogance that comes free with every purchase of the premium narcissistic sociopathic package.
But, more on Donald in a few.
By the way, it hasn't slipped past me that I'm just as eligible as the next guy or gal to be held accountable for speaking out of turn, talking through my hat, writing checks with my words that my ass can't cash....and assorted other witty and urbane descriptions of being heard when I should simply limit participation to being seen.
My get out of jail card free comes in the form of knowing something a lot of people don't know.
I know how to fess up that I often don't know about something. And pretty much always include that I'm ever working and studying and researching to learn what I can about those somethings.
Which brings us, inevitably, around to that guy who green lighted the assassination of the Iranian equivalent of an American Secretary of State.
Or even an American Vice President.
The assassination was, varied and diverse sources suggest, ordered contrary to the best judgements of scores of seasoned professionals, experienced in the aforementioned global political landscape, not to mention the last, say, four or five, maybe even more, presidents of the United States who recognized that navigating the aforementioned complexities of international politics, let alone simple co-habitation on the only planet available, at the moment, to any and all us, consists of attempting to achieve a skill level comparable to that of a world class grand chess master.
All but the most moist of the currently fashionable mouth droolers would have a hard time refuting the fact that Donald wouldn't know a chess board if its little squares had words like Boardwalk and Park Place printed on them.
Yes, Virginia, that was my verbose and vitriolic way of calling Trump a doorknob.
That case has been made and proven more times in the last, going on, four years than Kellyanne Conway has robo-mouthed "I don't see it that way" to anything that doesn't sing Donald's praises.
And it continues to be made, at this writing, on a daily basis. As, for example, Trump warns Iran he will bomb their cultural artifacts. And his own Secretary of Defense and Secretary of State counter that if there is to be war, it will be war "within the laws of armed conflict".
So, let's skip the "I know you are, but what am I" part of today's round table merry-go-round and let me hip you to that which I advertised a few minutes ago.
Why the know/don't know thing is wreaking real havoc these days.
Even more so, represents a clear and present danger.
Millions of members of our population believe they have it all figured out and what to do about it.
And they don't know what they're talking about.
For most of the same reasons, meanwhile, Donald Trump doesn't what the hell he's talking about,either.
But millions of members of our population aren't within a hundred miles of putting a finger on that symbolic button.
Trump is.
And he doesn't know what he's talking about.
Worse....and more ominously.....
He doesn't know what the hell he's doing.
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