He who smelt it dealt it.
This pearl of wisdom remains a common expression among children in schoolyards, too young to comprehend the concept of gaslighting. In their minds, this childish attempt to divert blame from the complicity of the one complaining that someone passed wind remains a strategy used even into adulthood.
While many might lie to cover up their shortcomings or failures, the one who “smelt it” goes one step further by scapegoating the innocent party through accusations that they “dealt it,” all while remaining responsible for the foulness being inhaled.
It is bad enough when adults participate in such childlike antics; it is earth-shattering when the adults happen to be rulers. Because empires crumble from within, losing trust in the one who constantly “smelt it” creates a people’s way of being that is unsustainable if we want democracy to endure.
Consider the convicted felon who constantly accuses his predecessors of being criminals, the one who sends thugs to overthrow election results while accusing the other side of “rigging elections.” Or the supporter of hate groups who told the Proud Boys “to stand back and stand by.” Or the one who said there were “very fine people on both sides” when referring to antisemitic Nazis and Klan members marching in Charlottesville; the one who then turned around and literally blamed Antifa, a nonexistent organization, designated as a leftist terrorist threat to the government.
“The scoundrel’s devices are evil; they plan wicked schemes to ruin the needy through lying words, even when the cause of the poor is right” (Isaiah 32:7).
History demonstrates that placing one’s trust upon rulers possessing deceptive lips is to court ruin. Woe unto us when the father of lies leads the people.
Building a house on the shifting sands of a ruler’s lies leads to the collapse of the nation. Meanwhile, the people become trapped on a rudderless boat as the winds of the ruler’s whims toss their once stable craft to and fro.
“So let your yay be yay and your nay be nay. Anything more than this comes from the evil one” (Matthew 5:37).
We have certainly had rulers in the past who have lied. But we have never had deception as grievous as the present administration. There is no comparison.
When flagrant habitual liars govern, the people cease to believe. When the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announces a certain vaccine is harmful, I do not believe them because decisions are no longer based on scientific data, but on political ideology.
When the National Weather Service warns of an approaching storm, I do not believe them because I’ve seen Sharpies added to maps to create the perception of a danger that did not exist.
When the FDA approves a new drug as safe, I do not believe them because I wonder if the pharmaceutical CEO is a golf buddy funding millions to the ruler’s family businesses.
When the State Department says a certain global action benefits another nation and supposedly also benefits us, I do not believe them because I wonder if the heads of foreign governments bought millions in the ruler’s bitcoins, contributing billions to their wealth since taking office.
“By justice a ruler provides stability to the country, but he who is greedy in exacting bribes brings it to ruin” (Proverbs 29:4).
When a people no longer believe in its rulers, when a people no longer trust its government’s rules and regulations, there remains nothing holding them together—except cult worship.
If the ruler disregards the rule of law, why then should the people be law-abiding? We are no longer inspired to ask what you can do for your country, but what our country can do for you; how you, like our rulers, can scam our country while the getting is good.
The hopelessness felt by our youth who are unable to secure a living wage, the cynicism felt by our seniors as they see a lifetime of work to secure golden years being withered away, the economic anxiety felt by so many due to the accelerated transfer of wealth from the bottom percentiles to the top one percent is the writing on the wall.
Our days are numbered. This experiment with self-rule is on the verge of failing. The plutocracy is so well entrenched that their intent no longer needs to be well masked.
We are breathing in the toxicity of a regime reeking of falsehoods so that the few who govern can financially benefit. The foul aromas clog our nostrils and choke our throats.
With the wretched of the earth, we cry out in solidarity that we can’t breathe. We know who dealt this venomous stench. Oh yes, we all know who farted.
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Professor of Social Ethics and Latinx Studies at Iliff School of Theology in Denver, Colorado, and a contributing correspondent at Good Faith Media.