Pool of Fools
BEHAVIORS OF CHILDREN can be hard to understand. Bill Cosby, before he chose to ruin his life, delivered hilarious monologues involving raising children. One suggested brain damage somehow occurred in children, the only explanation for behaviors that have absolutely no rational basis.
Teens, especially, boys sometimes are hopeless cases. No names here, but I personally know a teen who siphoned gas from a neighbor's car then poured the gas onto the street in front of his girl friend's house and lit a match. He thought that was truly hilarious. That worked so well, he got the idea to set the lake in the local city park on fire. Pour a little fuel on the water and light it. How cool! This is utter brain damage. There is no connection in these damaged brains to cause and effect, just blind response to impulses that seem to be delivered by Satan himself. Thankfully nobody died, no property was damaged, the carp in the lake survived, and the boy somehow managed to escape a sentence of life in prison.
This is brain damage. Here's an example with younger children: Most will heed the warning that touching a hot stove can hurt, but some – those with uncommon brain damage – have to find out for themselves. If you've raised no children, then you may not know about these bizarre behaviors. But parents know.
Usually the damaged brains begin to heal when the boys survive their teen years and drift without casualty into their twenties. (Notice now that I'm referring to boys rather than girls.) But we all know a few "adults" whose brains never seem to recover.
Consider just a recent example involving the famous Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in our nation's Capitol. It's a beautiful, contemplative pool that has been the backdrop for many historically significant events. Martin Luther King's speech comes to mind. What a setting that was! Speaking from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial to a huge crowd, Dr. King spoke brilliantly of his dream for justice, freedom, and equality for all. A very large crowd was rapt.
That boy who poured gasoline on the street and set it afire was reckless, stupid, uncaring about others, and incapable of anticipating the ill effects of his behavior. Would he have thought to drive his car down the length of the Reflecting Pool? Would he have invited his friends along for an event like a Main Street cruise in small town America?
What then is to explain the leader of the United States government ordering his motorcade into the Reflecting Pool on a recent day? Did he find this amusing? Was it official business? Did any of his crew suggest it was a really bad idea? Most of all did it do any lasting damage?
Oddly, shortly after this joy ride, the pool began to show signs that new, expensive repairs were damaged somehow. Did the leader of the government have anything to do with the damage? Not according to him and his spokespeople. It was vandalism, he said. Vandals, probably bad actors from the opposing party. Here's a report from the Reuters:
"Three weeks ago, the Trump administration declared victory in completing work to repaint the landmark pool, which stretches from the Lincoln Memorial nearly to the Washington Monument. The color was "American flag blue" for the 250th anniversary of U.S. independence on July 4. In the days since, the pool has been beset by problems including blooms of algae, a long-running scourge that has tinted the water a vibrant green, and chips of blue paint peeling off the bottom. Days before the National Mall will host U.S. 250th anniversary celebrations, the Reflecting Pool has become the latest symbol of Trump’s Washington: a test of his attempts to bend reality in his favor and command law enforcement to his personal whims."
Evidently, ("fake news" allegations don't explain it), brain damage isn't limited to youth. Also evidently, not all boys grow up. Some even drift into old age believing that their fancy must be served.
Why citizens would vote for a brain-damaged leader is beyond me. Maybe a dear reader will point out the reasoning. I'm missing it.