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Politics : The Trump Presidency
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To: combjelly who wrote (285120)5/6/2024 9:42:11 AM
From: Lane31 Recommendation

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ralfph

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But I don't think he is stupid

I think that there is a third option beyond liar and stupid, that is, under Trump's thrall, a framing I came to some time back. There is perhaps some conceptual overlap between stupid and thrall given that it would seem that one might have to be stupid to fall captive to nonsense. Could be an emotional override of the brain so powerful as to short the brain out when one is not otherwise stupid.

The key to me is that the litany breaks down into two categories. The predominant one is the unproven theories. They are potentially plausible although they fail on close examination or are simply lacking evidence. To chose to believe them in the face of evidence to the contrary or lack of evidence is a matter of predisposition and motivated reasoning.

The second category is that which is incredible, illogical, risible, ridiculous on its face. It is this latter category that is telling to me. When someone argues with a seemingly straight face that, for example, Biden couldn't have gotten more votes because he hung out in his Delaware basement while Trump was out there, he is either making it up or there is "something wrong with" that person. Rather than a broader "something," I have narrowly framed that as a specific thrall. But I couldn't put up much of an argument against just plain nuts.
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