We have a few cans of febreze in our house and I’ve noticed something interesting about this aerosol. I’ve noticed that once deployed, the scent is efficient at temporarily eliminating the odor emanating from a slightly whiffy trash can. Febreze buys you a little time before the offending garbage can be removed and the can in question washed. I’ve noticed that febreze also does a good job of removing the smell of work boots or the lingering aroma of a workout room. Like the kitchen garbage can, the boot cause of the odor still needs to be dealt with, but the Febreze has provided an olfactory respite until you can make that happen.
So, here’s the interesting part.
We have febreze strategically placed in our bathrooms and I think that when sprayed apres-dump, that the smell isn’t eliminated. Instead, you have a blend of feces and febreze. A whole new smell that signals someone has tried to cover up shit.
It seems to me that the febreze feces analogy is an apt one for some Canadian, and almost all American politics. Of course it would be rude to suggest that American politics smell bad without noting that China Plum Blossom and Russian Camomile are as popular a febreze scent as American Rose.
But it doesn’t matter if Donny stands in the Rose Garden or Vlady coats himself in Kremlin Camomile. You can still smell the shit seeping out of them. I should reiterate that what I’m talking about here is an analogy. I’m not claiming that as the pindictators speak that an aide is wandering around spraying an aromatic on the press corp.
What I’m saying is that lies, half truths, misinformation, gaslighting, deflection and wild ass finger pointing, are nothing more than political febreze sprayed around the room to cover up the smell of voluminous amounts of bullshit.
And then there’s projection. If I understand the concept correctly, it involves accusing your assumed and real opponents of shady behavior, while at the same time engaging in that exact behavior yourself. Like voter fraud as you systematically make voting more difficult, or fake news when you can’t or won’t tell the truth about anything from pussy to a pandemic. The funny thing about projection is that in order to make it work you have to have gone through a psychological process. Firstly, you need to dispense of any notion of honor or shame. I’m not sure how a person does this. The only conclusion I can reach that seems right, is that you’ve determined that honor inhibits service of self, so fuck it, not needed. With honor out of the way, the next step is to shackle shame. Once you’ve reached this level of the game then you’re gifted with the ability to casually ignore your own jaw dropping hypocrisy.
Projection though, is really the act of spraying Febreze before you smell up the room.
We have cats, and our feline friends have waste receptacles in a room in the basement. My wife is adamant about scooping those receptacles each and every day. However, sometimes the cats will take a morning dump and the result will remain in the litter box for a while. To combat that issue, we’ve discovered that Febreze makes a motion detector and plug in variant of their spray can. So, we’ve installed these items along with absorbent litter to combat the dilemma. The Febreze has in some ways become permanent.
This litter box permanence is how I see the political landscape of almost the entire world. There is so much shit that we’ve decide that it’s not worth even trying to clean it up. Instead, we’ve opted for the Febreze alternative and we’ve become so used to the blended scent that I wonder if we can even tell them apart anymore.
So, it’s up to the voters in countries that allow their citizens to vote to decide if they’re going to scoop their litter boxes, or if constant Febreze is the new normal.