Monkey See, Monkey Do

Audio By Carbonatix

Today, The Salty Citizen (political) and Hey Salty Lady (faith) are working together to bring two posts with one message.

And friend—this isn’t a hot take.

It’s a red face.

This weekend, I got pulled into the outrage cycle like everyone else. I reacted before I had full context, and I regret it. It was a reminder of how quickly we’re all being trained to respond—fast, loud, and publicly—whether we understand something or not.

That’s the trap.

Monkey in the Middle

I saw the controversy brewing over something Trump posted on Truth Social, and honestly? I didn’t want to engage. I’m exhausted by the emotional circus Americans are required to attend every single week. Another clip, another fire, another demand for commentary.

So, I didn’t look.

But as the day went on, the pressure built. People expected a response. You know the drill. Silence is violence and all that.

And I caved.

Not because I had something profound to add—but because the modern public square does not reward patience. It rewards immediacy.

The Circle of Lies

When I finally clicked, what I saw—at least in the way it was first circulating—was a short clip of Barack and Michelle Obama’s faces superimposed on apes.

It was juvenile. It was unnecessary. And it carried racist tropes that should never be treated lightly.

My immediate reaction was simple: Absolutely not.

But within hours, more context emerged. It was part of a longer Lion King-style montage. Then came the press briefing. Then came the staffer explanation. Then it was deleted.

And the story kept shifting, as these stories always do.

Later still, I learned the clip wasn’t even the central content of the post. It appeared at the end of a separate video about election fraud.

Which means what was circulating wasn’t “the whole thing.”

It was the excerpt.

The outrage bait.

And we bit. I bit.

Again.

But even then, the deeper issue remained: why are we doing this?

Why are we here—again?

Because whether it was malicious or merely stupid, the video accomplished the same thing either way:

Damage.

Distraction.

Division.

Pick a Side

We have been living in this cycle for years.

Something happens—sometimes terrible, sometimes trivial, sometimes somewhere in between—and within minutes the angry mob demands allegiance. Y’all, I saw pastors I know don’t have social media, create accounts just to say, “Yep. Trump is racist.”

Pick. Proclaim. Prove. Pronto. 

You’re either on the right side or you’re complicit.
You either post or you’re guilty.
You either signal solidarity or you’re suspect.

We’ve been doing this for a decade now. Maybe longer. I remember the entirely impotent cardboard hashtag signs. The profile picture campaigns. The kneeling, the foot-washing, and self-flagellation. The “We Support BLM” signs in windows of burned-out buildings, in hopes they would discourage rioters. The online rituals of concern that accomplished nothing except making the people participating feel momentarily righteous.

And it’s only gotten more concentrated, more urgent, more frantic.

Everything is five-alarm fire.
Everything is a referendum.
Everything is a loyalty or litmus test.

From George Floyd to Minneapolis to whatever tragedy is trending this week, we’ve built a culture where you are expected to weigh in immediately—before you know what happened, before you’ve thought, before you’ve even watched the full video.

And the result is predictable:

We lose credibility–not because we lack conviction but because we lack restraint.

Monkey See, Monkey Do

On the video–I don’t care whether Trump posted it personally or whether a staffer did. In the world of adulting, if your name is on it, you’re responsible for it. Period. Was it intentional racism? I don’t know. As we tell our children, perception is reality. Especially when history, doesn’t necessarily contradict it. That’s the breaks. There has been some pretty egregious late night posting of late.

How about this? I can acknowledge that depicting black people as anything derogatory is racist, and the left can acknowledge that this doesn’t seem to be the video they were intent to share.

Beyond that, there’s a lot the general public can only speculate on.

But here are the things I know:

• Racism is always bad.
• Arrogance is always bad.
• You can govern or avenge grievances, it’s hard to do both well.
• Our culture (principalities for Christians) profits off of panic and division.
• We are being manipulated.
• We are being conditioned.
• We are punished for being slow to speak.
• We are rewarded for being quick to signal.

Do you see and feel that? We are being nursed by algorithms. Culture is trying to ween the world off critical thinking, using chaos and conformity as cereal and solid food.

There, there, pets–let us think for you. We’ll tell you when to laugh or lament.

If we’re this easily baited into condemning what we’re trained to condemn…

We will be just as easily baited into applauding what we’re trained to applaud.

And that’s where we’re going next.

One Bad Bunny.