Why the picture of a will-o’-the-wisp? Perhaps it will help to define the expression first.

The Mystical Origins of Will-o’-the-Wisp

The will-o’-the-wisp is a flame-like phosphorescence caused by gases from decaying plants in marshy areas. In olden days, it was personified as “Will with the wisp,” a sprite who carried a fleeting “wisp” of light. Foolish travelers were said to try to follow the light and were then led astray into the marsh. (An 18th-century fairy tale described Will as one “who bears the wispy fire to trail the swains among the mire.”) The light was first known, and still also is, as ignis fatuus, which in Latin means “foolish fire.” Eventually, the name will-o’-the-wisp was extended to any impractical or unattainable goal.

Will-o’-the-wisp | Definition of Will-o’-the-wisp by Merriam-Webster (merriam-webster.com)

The picture above illustrates the foolishness of chasing any impractical or unattainable goal. What impractical or unattainable goal will we discuss here? Our topic has to do with the title, appointing a “reality czar.” What is a “reality czar”? I heard about this idea when I listened to this interview, When Reality is Shaped by the Czar : Gino Geraci with Douglas Groothuis (christianoutlook.com). That interview was about a New York Times article, How the Biden Administration Can Help Solve Our Reality Crisis – The New York Times (nytimes.com),

Both the interview and The New York Times article are worth your time. The New York Times serves as a good example of how readily we are inclined to chase a will-o’-the-wisp. The interview suggests how we might gain the wisdom to avoid wandering foolishly into swamps, like that one in Washington DC.

What is a “reality czar”? Here is an excerpt from that The New York Times.

Several experts I spoke with recommended that the Biden administration put together a cross-agency task force to tackle disinformation and domestic extremism, which would be led by something like a “reality czar.”

It sounds a little dystopian, I’ll grant. But let’s hear them out.

Right now, these experts said, the federal government’s response to disinformation and domestic extremism is haphazard and spread across multiple agencies, and there’s a lot of unnecessary overlap.

How the Biden Administration Can Help Solve Our Reality Crisis – The New York Times (nytimes.com)

The New York Times supported the election of Joe Biden because their guy knows what is “real.” Is there any chance anyone in that same news outfit would have supported the appointment of a “reality czar” by the Trump administration? If it was not the job of the Trump administration to tell us what is real and what is disinformation, what makes it the job of the Biden administration?

What has the appointment of a “reality czar” got to do with the Second Impeachment of Donald Trump? Consider the charge. Supposedly Trump intentionally incited an insurrection by repeatedly and forcefully claiming the election was stolen. That is, the poor dears who attacked the Capitol Building were not responsible for their own conduct. Instead, those hotheads were the victims of deliberate misinformation by that foul, orange genius, President Donald Trump. If we, the ignorant and easily duped deplorable masses, can so easily be misinformed and duped, don’t we need a “reality czar” to “protect” us from the mechanizations of anyone who disagrees with Liberals and Progressives. Obvious. Right?

The Second Impeachment of Donald Trump is in fact a direct attack on the First Amendment.

Amendment I

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

The Bill of Rights: A Transcription | National Archives (Amendment I)

What is disinformation to one person is the truth to another. That is why it is authoritarian and totalitarian regimes fight “disinformation” by suppressing religious freedom, freedom of speech, a free press, the right to peacefully assemble, and the right to petition the government. A free People defend the truth by publicly debating and arguing which facts are true and how the true facts relate to each other. That is, a free People become familiar with the truth when it peacefully contends for the truth.

We cannot remain free or properly discern the truth by suppressing the beliefs of our neighbors. We can only learn the truth as best we can by calmly sharing with each other what we know and believe. If we want to help neighbors we believe ignorant and misinformed, we cannot inform them by shutting them up. Instead, we must try to show why what they believe doesn’t make any logical sense.

What are the House Impeachment Managers doing? They are making as emotional case as they can for the impeachment of Donald Trump. They are claiming that Trump knew what no one else knew, that his words would lead to the riot at the Capitol on January 6, 2021, but that is a silly assertion. Everyone was surprised by the storming of the Capitol Building, and  Former Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund said as much in his February 1, 2021 letter (Letter_to_Congressional_leaders_02012021.pdf (foxnews.com) 

Trump, even as president, was just one voice among many. In fact, his was a relatively small voice, almost literally just a twitter that has now been silenced. Since their allies control our schools, much of the government, the social media, and the mass media, Liberals and Progressives had and have a far louder voice than Trump ever had. Given their obstinate quest to increase their power and influence over every aspect of our lives, it is difficult to believe Trump has ever been more divisive influence than Liberals and Progressives.

When we seek power we have no right to have, that is divisive, and Liberals and Progressives seek that kind of power. Therefore, before Liberals and Progressives point to and blame Trump, they ought to reconsider their own role in the January 6 riots. In addition, Liberals and Progressives may wish to broaden the scope of their investigation to the more violent and costly riots that occurred all last year.

• Dozens of Secret Service Agents Injured in George Floyd Protest | Newsmax.com
• The Lafayette Square protesters were anything but peaceful (washingtonexaminer.com)
• Cost of Recent Riot Damages Are the Worst in U.S. History by Katie Pavlich (townhall.com)
• Protests, riots that gripped America in 2020 | Fox News
• Riots following George Floyd’s death could cost up to $2B (nypost.com)
• Nolte: BLM Riots Are Most Costly Manmade Damage to U.S. Property Ever (breitbart.com)

Will you find much about the cost of last year’s riots in the so-called mainstream news media? No. If not for the loud mouths of the news media propagandizing us, nobody would take the House Impeachment managers seriously.