Focus on what matters

 

 Today's America is one of division. We perceive the non-stop barrage in our daily lives without really pausing to question whether our perspective - our position - is our own or forced upon us by others, or whether we are the ones forcing it on everyone around us. 

 

Perspective is everything.

Hand-in-hand with perspective is focus. As with photography and the manual adjustment of a camera lens, we must pick what we want to focus on. That's what matters to us. That's what we want to convey to others, to have them focus on our subject, a forced perspective for those looking at the photo.

With the news media, focus is in the hands of journalists or pundits. We - the audience - ravenously consume it, especially when it aligns with our own perspective. 

But, every now and then, we find ourselves standing at one of those coin-operated binoculars mounted in place for the purpose of viewing scenic sights from a distance. You can only swivel the thing along a narrow track - forced perspective - but we choose just how much we want to focus on any particular thing in that field of vision.

When that happens, you get this: 

COOPER: TRUMP'S OUTRAGE DOESN'T MATTER. HERE'S WHAT DOES.

Cooper's plea is fiercely poignant. I leave to you to decide whether or not he's right, or if his topic is one we should all focus on.

 

Personally, I believe we have wasted too much time and energy on Trump and his skewered perspective. 

His reality is not ours. He stands in front of those binoculars and demands that we focus on him rather than what is urgent and important for Americans. He basks in attention given to him at rallies but offers no concern for those attending or the 130 Secret Service agents currently affected by COVID-19. No effort for a transition of power, no Intelligence briefing since the first week of October. It is urgent that we move on for the sake of our nation.

Let's focus on what matters.