Flogging A Dead Horse

                               L.E. Caldwell 

 …The Inane Ramblings of a Geezerly Septuagenarian

Have you ever been accused of ‘flogging a dead horse’ or as we say in American English ‘beating a dead horse'?

A while back, I wrote to an old editor friend of mine (just a little older than me) complaining that I had become tired of reading the redundancy in columns written by the same editor on the same topic…it is like flogging a dead horse I said.

He was quick to remind me ‘that all of us who write regularly, will from time to time, beat a dead horse, and even borrow someone else’s dead horse to beat anew’…he’s right of course.

Just to be clear…flogging is a type of beating, defined by the use of specific tools (like whips, rods and canes). Beating is a general act which may include the hand, fist or about any implement of your choosing. The horse remains dead just the same. You say ‘tuh-MAY-toh’…I say ‘tuh-MAH-toh’. 

So, where am I going with this? 

First, perhaps a little history is in order. The expression ‘flogging a dead horse’ is reported to have been spoken by English politician and orator John Bight in the House of Commons.  According to newspaper accounts, while debating parliamentary reform in March of 1859, Francis Wemyss Charteris, 9 Earl of Wemyss, also known as Lord Elcho remarked that Bright had described his own efforts to revive interest in the issue as ‘flogging a dead horse.’

For context: Horses, at the time were a primary source of labor and ‘flogging’ or ‘beating’ was a standard practice to make the horse move; doing so to a dead horse was considered the ultimate metaphor for futility. 

  Flogging a dead horse is nothing new and continues with little chance of slowing any time soon…much to my chagrin. 

Many of our elected officials engage in flogging…generally along party lines. When in doubt…create a conspiracy theory, promote it, blame others, and then beat the lie to death, all the while sweeping the truth neatly under the rug.…There is not enough 20 mule team borax to adequately wash out the offending mouths. What happened to all the talk of truth and transparency?

In the United States it would be safe to say that the majority of us that are old enough to vote remember the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol, when Trump supporters, smashed windows and doors and assaulted law enforcement officers; believing the lies of a rigged election. 

Over this past year, in his second term, President Donald Trump continues to beat the stolen election dead horse and is actively engaged in a campaign to rewrite history.

On Tuesday, according to the New York Times, the five-year anniversary of the Jan. 6 attack, Trump was again spewing doubt about the integrity of American elections. “Our elections are crooked as hell,” Trump told congressional Republicans.

Also Tuesday, the Trump administration created a new page on the White House website attempting to rewrite the history of the riot, criticizing congressional Democrats and former Vice President Mike Pence for standing up to falsehoods about the 2020 election and allowing it to be certified…again continuing to flog the same dead horse.

It is just the latest turn of events in a year in which Trump has attempted to rewrite election rules, take control of state and local election systems and offered support to those who promote election conspiracy theories. He granted clemency to all of the nearly 1,600 people charged in connection with January 6, including attackers of law enforcement officers and the leaders of right-wing extremist groups.

A New York Times review of Trump’s public statements found more than 150 instances in the past year alone in which he falsely claimed he had won the 2020 election, and went on to portray January 6 rioters as victims, while deprecating investigators of the Capitol riot.

Even this past weekend, as the United States was carrying out a military operation to capture the president of Venezuela, he was still fuming over his 2020 loss to Joe Biden.

Trump repeatedly posted on social media over the weekend, sharing conspiracy theories about American elections, including that the CIA rigged his election loss; that widespread fraud may have stolen state-run elections from him in Georgia and Pennsylvania; and that election machines made by Dominion Voting Systems were somehow in on the plot. All these claims have been repeatedly disproved…yet the beat down goes on.

Trump is indeed the master of beating and riding a dead horse into the sunset.

I would urge the President to read (in between his late night textcapades) the humorous Dead Horse Theory. In part, it is often used to illustrate the futility of continuing to invest time, effort, or resources into a failing or unproductive endeavor in a tongue in cheek sort of way. It is based on an old Dakota tribal wisdom that says, “When you discover that you are riding a dead horse, the best strategy is to dismount.”

Sounds like good advice.

Editors Note: The writing here would not be complete without hearing from PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) who have graciously weighed-in on the flogging/beating of a dead horse. 

PETA, argues that the ‘beating/flogging of a dead horse’  trivializes animal cruelty and has proposed replacing the phrase with ‘feeding a fed horse’ as a more humane characterization. 

Perhaps we should reclassify the dead horse as “living-impaired” and use the euphemism to avoid facing the reality of talking about death altogether.__lec