Not to go all Ludwig Wittgenstein on you, but imagine how your perception of the meaning of the following words would change if the author of the (top) Tweet below was Pope Francis instead of Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas:

https://twitter.com/JohnCornyn/status/1373947860622979075

It’s a simple sentence: “President Biden has instead emphasized the humane treatment of immigrants, regardless of their legal status.”

The word “instead” tells us that Biden’s emphasis is a change from what came before, or perhaps from what was promised. Something else might have been expected. But there’s nothing in the sentence to tell us whether this is a good thing or a bad thing.

Yet, we presume it’s a bad thing because we know the author thinks being humane to people regardless of their legal status is a bad thing. We’d presume the opposite if Pope Francis made the exact same statement.

I use the Pope as an example here just to make a nice, stark contrast, but most people are in favor of humane treatment. I’d argue that you have to be mentally warped or disfigured in some way to advocate inhumane treatment for anyone.

If the subject is guilty of mistreating other human beings and we’re talking about the appropriate punishment, some folks will see the merit in the penalty mirroring the crime. Torture someone and get tortured yourself. Yet, even if you subscribe to eye for an eye justice, seeking illegal entry into the United States doesn’t warrant an inhumane response.

Sometimes the most revealing thing about what people say is that they’re willing to say it at all. Cornyn knows his audience is so hostile to the people crowding our southern border that they do not see them as human or deserving of human decency. He knows they agree that Biden should torture them, perhaps by separating them from their children or keeping them in squalid confinement. So, he just comes right out and criticizes the president of the United States for being humane.

We all know what Cornyn meant by that sentence, but only because we know Cornyn is a terrible person. If he were a good person, we’d assume he was writing to support the president and approve his actions.