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.
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