Swatting Away Lies, but Distracting from the Truth: Mike Pence’s Fly Incident

By Gabrielle Grosbety, Staff Editor

The vice-presidential debate between Senator Kamala Harris and Vice President Mike Pence on October 7th was a significantly less raucous event than its earlier presidential counterpart; nevertheless, lies were also spouted with abandon. The debate touched on everything from the administration’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic to promises made surrounding our healthcare system. There was also revitalized urgency found in addressing climate change, as well as a discussion of the growing wealth inequality that threatens the health, safety, and dignity of the middle and working classes.

Still, it was the unforgettable fly that flew onto Vice President Pence’s hair in the midst of the debate which became the prevailing topic of conversation the next day. This calls into question how a frenzied distraction can interrupt focus on the bigger issues in the debate. The fly wasn’t the only interruption of the night, however. The moderator, USA Today’s Susan Page, was also spoken over and allowed answers to go long past the allotted time. This marked another troubling aspect of these debates: they become too much of a lawless free-for-all, controlled primarily by whoever cuts off whom. In turn, this is what is happening to our nation under the lack of democratic leadership, truth, and moral governance of the Trump administration. While Senator Harris made strident steps to a more respectful dialogue by candidly telling Vice President Pence that she was speaking when he tried to interrupt, there is clearly still more work to be done.

However, a key aspect of Trump’s presidency has been his capitalization on distractions like the fly, for example, that shift focus away from his various controversies and shortcomings on key promises. Trump is all smoke and mirrors. At his core, he is a performer who wants to put on the most controversial, watched show, but underneath, he is a con-man who cheats the system by abusing its fundamental weaknesses: its reliance on the president to respect the law. Once that core respect is broken, the system loses its ability to enforce what needs to be enforced. These four years have exposed the American people for all of what we are: the good, the bad, and the ugly. It has revealed the direction of not only our ideological compasses, but our moral compasses and basic grasp on right and wrong, truth and lie, and racism versus anti-racism.

While the fly is quite the gimmick—having inspiring amusing campaign merchandise like a fly swatter that “swats away lies,”—we can’t become blinded by its flashiness. We must acknowledge humor as a coping mechanism that returns some sanity to the minds of disparaging voters, but we also have to work on enacting change by voting, which I can only hope will inspire the same frenzy as the fly. The fascination with the fly also becomes synonymous with the ways that soundbites and viral moments stick in the minds of people, but the more substantial issues lying underneath don’t always reach with the same sticking power. While these soundbites and viral moments lighten the gloomy national mood, we cannot lose sight of everything on the line. Moreover, soundbites can be distorted to mistakenly represent narratives. So, we must continue to stay informed and read credible sources. Amongst the lightheartedness of a gimmick, we also must not forget the gravity of the current situation. We must vote with this spirited awareness on November 3rd.

Image credit: The New York Times