From 1938 to 2020 - Pieces of Paper have always been illusions

Let's talk about a story that's been getting a lot of media attention lately, namely this one: 

ZOOM: @realDonaldTrump appears to be signing his name to a blank sheet of paper in this photo. pic.twitter.com/xlNX24CXn4

— Andrew Feinberg (@AndrewFeinberg) October 4, 2020

When I was 16, I was invited into school to take a photo with the Headteacher pretending to open my exam results. I was handed a blank piece of paper, which me and my headteacher grinned and pointed at as the cameras snapped away. Obviously, these weren’t my exam results. I had opened them online at 6am that morning – no one at my school got a letter with a list of their grades on it. The photo was an illusion, and no one cared.

When you watch the evening news, do you actually think that the newsreader is reading from the sheets of paper in front of them? No, of course they aren’t. They are reading from a teleprompter, as newsreaders have been doing for decades. The paper is just there because that is the image the news channel wants to give.

So when President Trump takes a photo signing a blank piece of paper with a permanent marker, who really cares? This is just another illusion. Obviously the illusion that the White House was trying to give with these photos has greater implications than the illusion of a newsreader reading off sheets of paper. But quite frankly, who is genuinely surprised that this is a staged photo? Do you suppose that when the press publishes photos of Heads of State showing unity by shaking hands next to their respective countries’ flags, these are just spontaneous poses? Of course they aren't. 

I understand the frustration surrounding this photo op - it was used to give a false image of reality, to paint the picture that Trump was working hard for the American people.

Nothing can stop him from working for the American people. RELENTLESS! 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/2ZSat782qe

— Ivanka Trump (@IvankaTrump) October 4, 2020

But what frustrates me about the attention this story is being given is that there are far more important things to consider right now. But who is surprised that the President who has lied for his entire presidency has asked you to suspend your disbelief one more time? This is hardly the worst lie he has told. Who is shocked that the President who did nothing to prevent a pandemic when he was healthy, except tell you to inject yourself with disinfectant, is still doing nothing about the pandemic when he is ill with the disease?

Historically, it's unsurprising that a president would hide the true state of their health; it is an incredibly new convention to have any knowledge about the condition of our leaders' health. We are only shocked by these misleading photos because we have become accustomed to knowing every detail of the President's health condition. Trump's Wikipedia page lists everything from the number of hours the President sleeps a night to his cholesterol level. I don't even know my own cholesterol level! What has changed in recent years is that we have a newfound belief that an understanding of our leaders' health is in the public interest. That's fair enough - I've even written an article about it. 

But my problem with this story is that, as we so often do, we are getting carried away mocking the President for taking an ill-advised photo, when there are many other things we should be reporting on.