ttbn,

To clarify, I was only referring to us as individuals, not the moderators or the political pundits writing articles after the fact.

Granted, though, an exhaustive rubric would be excessive for anyone other than those who have a lot of time on their hands.

Dear John D.,

Donald Trump will not be capable of not reacting to how
badly he did during the debate. And, his supporters
will back him, making all sorts of excuses. He and they will
defend his performance. None of them will admit that he burst
into flames on stage.

The man tried to make a case for himself that he'd won. Look
at his desperate and shock appearance after the debate in the
post debate spin room at the Pennsylvania Convention Center.

We'll see him reacting to this for weeks, and weeks, and weeks,
with his supporters and his grievance mind-set he and they will
undoubtedly continue complaining about the moderators and the
rules and fact-checking indefinitely.

It's always others who're to blame. Never him.
Everybody knows that he never ever loses. That nobody leaves
earlier at his rallies. That he won the last election. That
he achieved so much during his last term in office. That he
is respected around the world. That everybody loves him.
And, that he'll make America great again. Just as he's done
thus far.

Excuse me, I need to go and throw up.

I wanted to see two leaders espousing their policies.
I didn't see any leaders.
I saw very little in the way of serious policy.
Overall, a very poor showing by both participants.
Almost a shambles.
A leader needn't denigrate or disparage an opponent.
He simply leads the discussion away from him.
So the opponent then becomes sidelined, and unimportant.

Here's the best political cartoons on the 2024
US Presidential election:

http://usnews.com/news/elections/cartoons/cartoons-on-the-2024-presidential-election

Enjoy.

Indeed, Foxy.

Trump's term as president was apparently very chaotic behind the scenes, with his minders working overtime to contain him. Even to the point where they'd deliberately distract him like a small child by steering his focus in ways that would minimise the meltdowns and keep his fragmented thoughts focused on issues that needed attention.

I think Trump's supporters are a fascinating cohort. In my view, they can be divided into two broad categories:

1. Those who recognise his flaws but overlook them because he’ll implement changes they want to see and because they believe he’s shaking up the status quo in ways they like.

2. Those who are so deluded that they buy into his image as a successful businessman and a strong leader and see him as a sort of messianic figure who represents hope for America’s future. To these people, the constant criticism he faces is merely proof of his righteousness.

The whole phenomenon has provided an abundance of material for the study of cognitive biases (1) and cult-like followings (2). Psychologists are well aware of this and have ceased the unique opportunity Trump has provided them.

But it's the first group that I'm mostly interested in.

You'd think people would question why their preferred policies have to come packaged with someone as erratic and divisive as Trump. It's as if they’ve convinced themselves that only someone willing to flout the norms of decency and decorum could push their agenda through.

The cognitive dissonance... on one hand, they acknowledge Trump's flaws, but on the other, they see him as a necessary hammer to dismantle what they think is broken. It’s as if his imperfections are not just tolerated but reframed as strengths.

But never once does it occur to these people that the inability to find someone more polished or competent suggests that maybe the problem isn't so much the system they're fighting against, but the nature of the ideas they're pushing - ideas that seem to demand a half-wit wrecking-ball and can somehow never be found in an intelligent statesman.

(Funny that!)

Dear John D.,

Thank you for your great analysis.

We've lived and worked in the United States for close
to ten years. We experienced a great deal during
that time. Both good and bad.
We left the country to come home to Oz
because we didn't like the direction that the
country was going even back then in the 70s.

I was fortunate enough to work in a private university.
I was exposed to a wide variety of views. However, I
don't regret the decision we made to come home.

It will be interesting to see how things pan out
in the upcoming US election. For all our sakes,
I hope that sanity will prevail and Trump will lose.