The Presidency of Donald J. Trump, Episode VII: We Are All Going To Die, Thanks Obama!

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There’s a very disconcerting moment in today’s NY Times “Daily” podcast (in which they literally Both Sides this moment by interviewing a protestor and then the Gov). The protester comes off as a very reasonable guy, and when the interviewer mentions some of the nasty rhetoric, the protestor is like, “Oh, like Governor WHitler? Heh. ha ha. … Yeah, that seems kind of juvenile.”

Omfg. It is legal to open carry inside the Capitol. I assume they’ve been trained to only aim at black legislators and women in blue dresses.

Has to be something passed due to right wing nut job gerrymandering.

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https://twitter.com/notmackED/status/1255958286110806019

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I wondered this three years ago. I do not wonder any more.

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Fyp

There are at least 60m people in the US dumber than Trump

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She appears to be armed with dark skin.

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The real difference is that Trump actually believes himself to be a genius. The deplorables who support him might have an overinflated sense of self-worth but even they know that they have limits. Trump thinks the only reason that there isn’t peace in the Middle East is because he has judged them not to be ready for it.

My point was just that no matter how stupid this guy is, anyone who voted for him to be PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES must by definitition be even worse.

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1256013239487549441
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https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1256013240896835585
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https://twitter.com/Fahrenthold/status/1255952187349520384?s=20

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1256016249169084417
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Well, they may be worse in some way, but they’re not necessarily more stupid.

Many who voted for Trump are even dumber than Trump. No argument there.
But there are certainly some people who are smarter who voted for him
–Ultra rich people who benefit from his approach to taxation
–Racists who, while often stupid, aren’t quite as stupid as he is. Plenty of people in this thread tells stories of some acquaintance who an otherwise smart person who supports Trump. I figure in many cases, the storyteller has incorrectly assessed the acquaintance’s intellect. However, I don’t think that is true in every single case.
–Social conservatives who will admit that Trump is an idiot, but they support him for the judges.

Those are the most obvious groups of people who are smarter than Trump who would vote for Trump. Perhaps if I gave it some thought, I could think of others.

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Yeah I get that. I’m sure there are some people who voted for Trump whose incomes or feelings of self worth are legitimately improved by him being president, but I question whether that makes them smart. I’d argue that their short term selfishness coupled with their failure to consider the wider implications of having a literal imbecile in charge of the world’s greatest superpower is just another form of stupidity.

Like, when everything is taken into account how has Trump’s election victory actually affected their personal life expectancy or quality of life? What % of his voters would be correct in saying their personal EV from their time on this planet has been improved by voting for him? I’d argue not many.

Government lies about WMDs invades a country and murders millions
(nothing happens)
Government abandons an entire city leaving masses to die after a hurricane
(nothing happens)
Government only bails out the banks after they cause an economic catastrophe
(nothing happens)
Government says you can’t get your nails done for like 2 months.
(Storm the Governors house! This will not stand!)

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https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1256024228777857025
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I brought this up in the other thread but the idea of the common good really doesn’t exist in American political thought. If it does come up, it’s shot down as some kind of socialist or communist rhetoric rather than actually discussed.

It’s why people in America are protesting while people in Europe are wearing masks and socially distancing themselves. America is a rigidly individualistic society where the individual’s right to destroy the group through their wholly legal actions is more worthy of protection than the welfare of the vulnerable group.

The other thing is that people are selfish and really bad at thinking in the abstract. Things that don’t have a tangible effect on them in the short-term are not things people really care about. You’d get pissed about somebody stealing your wallet. But since you can’t feel your privacy being stolen by the government, you don’t run to police to file a report about it. You can’t feel it being taken from you. You can’t feel the impact on your future but that privacy is more important than thousands of wallets being stolen from you everyday.

Definitely a flaw in critical thinking that most people have.

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FYP… Its really bad here Sub for non mask folk… I’d say about 20% at Max and even then that’s generous.