ABC Interview
ABC Interview
The interview last night of President Trump by Terry Moran of ABC News was an unbelievable display of petulance, egotism, mendacity, vindictiveness, and rank stupidity. It was an embarrassment to the country. The man’s mind is a slag heap of prejudices, stereotypes, grievances, vague generalities, and petty rivalry. He appears to lack a brain. Do you think I am exaggerating? Then consider two nadirs of the whole performance. First, when questioned about the lack of due process in cases of deportation, he demonstrated a complete lack of understanding of the concept and hence of the nature of the law. All he could say was that that the deported individuals were given “a process”. He is certifiably legally illiterate, startlingly so. Second, and even worse, he insisted that he had photographic proof of the guilt of Abrego Garcia in the form of “MS13” tattooed on his knuckles. He kept repeating this as if it was indisputable. When Moran suggested it might be photoshopped he merely “doubled down” (to me these letters looked clearly superimposed). What is so deplorable about this is that he couldn’t even imagine the mere possibility that this “evidence” might not be probative. He seemed incapable of even the most elementary ability to evaluate evidence; and he was prepared to destroy a man’s life based on highly dubious “evidence”. His constant reference to President Biden showed the puerility of character we have seen so often. Nothing he said was remotely cogent, reasoned, or even properly formulated. He is unusual even by the standards of the most egregious ignoramus. He absolutely refuses to engage with awkward questions. There is no thought process, just affect-driven reflexes. Psychologically, he is in a class of his own. He understands nothing, but he isn’t going to let that stop him.
To people in the gutter, alas many people “born in the USA” or naturalized before Trump’s accession, Trump is very smart. He is, to these people, street smart, like Thrasymachus, but with little Latin and small Greek and not much English. He exploits others and stays out of jail and gets rich and sells himself with a vengeance, and finally lives in his own reality and forces it down the world’s (and I realize that’s a vexed term) throat. That is “smart” to those people- he is like them but he is President and their President and he does as he so pleases.
The “rich asshole” definition of smart.
Let me add, and my education is too limited to pass this judgment fully, many Americans who rile against the “Deep State” and “WOKE” make Trump into some kind of Luther- it’s almost like they have a religious inspired fervor against good or any government. It’s just a feeling I get and none of the political commentary get at it, because they in my opinion just apply the usual theories, what they learned at school and what they saw on the job, at it. It’s really insane. Trump’s just our Luther, our lunatic Luther.
It’s a mystery to me why Americans are so against “big government”: I like big government so long as they make my life better and don’t break the bank. Does anyone not like having a large household staff if they can afford it?
I have some clue why. First, for some it is a paranoia about power going back to the Revolution or even back to English history; also, people or at least Americans tend to think that it is a waste for other people to have three meals a day while my cheese cake that makes me get fat is a necessity. The logic of the system is to “pull your weight” as Archie Bunker sang and to save money. It is a particular variant of capitalism, fighting for every penny as if it were the battle of the Bulge and tighteneing the belt of the country to strangle the life’s blood out of the body politic.
But then, what do I know?
I have the sense that “big government” is synonymous with “welfare” for many Americans.
Not to sound like Jesse Jackson, but it’s the “common greed over the common need.” This sounds preechy and like the Democratic Party of the Rainbow Coalition days but it has some truth. There’s a fine line between individualism and greed. I I think too many Americans somewhow think they are in or deserve to belong to the 1 % and identify with the 1 % just like nobody imagines one day they will be in the grave
American dream = American fantasy.