The Naked Truth

As a young man, one of the many fairy tales, or fables, that often confused me was the story about the emperor who had no clothes. In case you don't remember, the story is about an emperor who hired a tailor to make him a new suit. The tailor worked for a while (different depending on the version) and was paid handsomely along the way. When the day of the big reveal happened, it took the innocent honesty of a child to point out that the emporer was lying about his clothes: he was going around naked. The tailor had sold him a lie. But the story isn't about the tailor tricking the emperor. The story is about the way power corrupts our perspective at its heart. Had he not been an emperor, everyone would have likely pointed out that he was naked. It was his power, and the desire of his people to respect that power, that caused an entire nation save a small child to point out the stupidity of the situation. In this podcast episode, we cover a shared delusion among right-wing Americans. Trump is the emporer, the January 6th "peaceful protest" is the new suit, and the emporer has no clothes.