What does a TRUMP presidency look like?

[HisMajestyBOB]

Foolme once, shame on you. Fool me hundreds of times over 4 years, shame on me.

[DGuller]

Trump does have this uncanny ability to make people, not even necessarily his fans, see something in him that is just not there and has never been there.  It's like people's default expectations of how they expect others to act can never be fully adjusted by the observations of just how Trump himself is in fact acting.

[Sheilbh]

Trump does have this uncanny ability to make people, not even necessarily his fans, see something in him that is just not there and has never been there.  It's like people's default expectations of how they expect others to act can never be fully adjusted by the observations of just how Trump himself is in fact acting.

I think part of it is almost psychological. Like people want to respect the president and assume the best which is really tough to reconcile with the really existing president at this moment.

[DGuller]

Trump does have this uncanny ability to make people, not even necessarily his fans, see something in him that is just not there and has never been there.  It's like people's default expectations of how they expect others to act can never be fully adjusted by the observations of just how Trump himself is in fact acting.

I think part of it is almost psychological. Like people want to respect the president and assume the best which is really tough to reconcile with the really existing president at this moment.

There are probably many parts, and this is one of many.  Another part I suspect is people's reluctance to reach conclusions that are normally unorthodox.  There is a name for that bias, but it escapes me now, where people would prefer to be wrong as part of majority rather than be wrong due to adopting an unconventional view.

My dad, who is not a Trumpist, always drives me crazy with arguments like "you can't get to where Trump got to if you are X", where X is some cartoonishly bad quality.  Maybe it's wise to rely on that prior up to a point, to account for the possibility that your judgment about X is wrong, but beyond a certain point you should take observed behavior into account instead of continuing with your assessment based on general expectations.

[alfred russel]

It doesn't really matter if Wallace was surprised. The debate served its purpose and Wallace did his job--the debate reexposed Trump as a boor who ignores the rules of civil discourse (even when he agreed to them up front). It also showed the falsity of the Trump campaign claims that Biden is suffering from dementia.

[Barrister]

Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany, in discussing Amy Coney Barrett, says that Barrett is a "Rhodes Scholar".

ACB did not study at Oxford on a Rhodes scholarship - rather she got he BA from Rhodes College in Tennessee.

[Syt]

 

[The Minsky Moment]

It just shows how reflexive mendacity has become for this administration.  Whatever concerns people have about Judge Barrett, they have nothing to do with her academic bona fides, which are impeccable. 

[crazy canuck]

It just shows how reflexive mendacity has become for this administration.  Whatever concerns people have about Judge Barrett, they have nothing to do with her academic bona fides, which are impeccable.

Yep, she clerked, not sure why anyone needs to look any further into her academic background.

[Barrister]

Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany, in discussing Amy Coney Barrett, says that Barrett is a "Rhodes Scholar".

ACB did not study at Oxford on a Rhodes scholarship - rather she got he BA from Rhodes College in Tennessee.

McEnany, when later on corrected by a reporter, says "Attended Rhodes College. So, my bad."

[PDH]

Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany, in discussing Amy Coney Barrett, says that Barrett is a "Rhodes Scholar".

ACB did not study at Oxford on a Rhodes scholarship - rather she got he BA from Rhodes College in Tennessee.

McEnany, when later on corrected by a reporter, says "Attended Rhodes College. So, my bad."

Lolz, I was wrong!

[grumbler]

It just shows how reflexive mendacity has become for this administration.  Whatever concerns people have about Judge Barrett, they have nothing to do with her academic bona fides, which are impeccable.

Notre Dame grads deserve no assumptions about even basic competence.  She could be the smartest person ever to graduate from there and still be a moron.

[Sheilbh]

It just shows how reflexive mendacity has become for this administration.  Whatever concerns people have about Judge Barrett, they have nothing to do with her academic bona fides, which are impeccable.

So I'm not sure about this example, but I don't think it's mendacity because that's almost too conscientious. It's just indifference to whether things are true or not.

It's the administration of an estate agent, who'll say whatever he needs to to make the sale and doesn't really care beyond that. So it doesn't matter if it's right, it doesn't matter if it's the opposite of what you said last week, nothing matters. It's the West Wing interpreted by David Mamet.

[katmai]

It just shows how reflexive mendacity has become for this administration.  Whatever concerns people have about Judge Barrett, they have nothing to do with her academic bona fides, which are impeccable.

Notre Dame grads deserve no assumptions about even basic competence.  She could be the smartest person ever to graduate from there and still be a moron.

ie. Dorsey

[crazy canuck]

I repeat, she was a clerk.  Morons don't get to be clerks.  Only morons would question or attempt to buttress the academic bona fides of a clerk.  Both seem to be happening.