Saturday, July 4, 2020

Que Tonto El

   Supporters of the president told Native American protestors at the Mount Rushmore rally to "Go home, back to where you came from." Which brought the response, "We are home, this is where we came from. You guys are the invaders."
   Couple that with the president's defense of mask wearing that he did wear one, once, and that "It looked good. It made me look like the Lone Ranger."
   Except that the Lone Ranger's mask covered only the eyes, not the nose and mouth, which is required to help control spread of the corona virus.
   Meanwhile, the meaning of "Tonto" in Spanish is "fool," and usually refers to a stupid person. However, the origin of the word "fool" goes back to Medieval times, and referred to a court jester, whose duty it was to amuse the master by pointing to connotations that others would not say, sometimes for nefarious reasons.
   In that context, the court jester, or fool, was neither stupid or ignorant, but a clever advisor.
   Also, the Lone Ranger's "faithful companion" used the term "Kemosabe," which can be said to derive from the Spanish phrase "qui no sabe," which means "he who doesn't know."
   So it can be said that the two were engaging in friendly insults, which close companions do.
   Therefore, when the president says wearing a Lone Ranger-type mask in these days of soaring covid infections makes him look good, the nickname "Kemosabe" may well apply, since as the name implies, he doesn't know what he's talking about.

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