1/25 This morning, listening to NPR, I snapped at how utterly surreal major MSM outlet coverage has become. Not because it is faithfully covering a surreal presidency, but because it has become profoundly disconnected from reality.
It's the cognitive bias depicted by the iconic "this is fine" cartoon.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normalcy_…
1. Trump is psychologically unfit to be president, literally incapable of conforming his behavior to normal standards of decency or probity, or controlling his compulsive need for revenge, vindication, narcissistic supply. And he's deteriorating dangerously.
2. The GOP is no longer a normal party in the traditional American sense of a party dedicated to the values of liberal democracy - pluralism, majority rule, rule of law, human rights - that is a good faith participant in the project of governance, in or out of power.
Rather, since 1995, it has degenerated into an openly anti-democratic, nihilistic authoritarian movement built on oligarchic support and ethnic grievance. It is explicitly, gleefully illiberal, trades in eliminionist rhetoric and operates at all times in utmost bad faith.
3. The degenerated GOP is part of a larger transnational political movement, loosely, and more or less, led by Russia. They are waging open war on liberal democracy and yet hid behind the subverted institutions and trappings of a murdered democracy.
4. Almost every single major foreign policy move by Trump benefits, or seeks to benefit, Russia at the expense of the United States and/or its allies.
5. Certain journalists and members of Congress have been suborned by Russia. Because every member of Congress, and every prominent or potentially useful American that travels to Russia, gets a dossier opened and the GRU and FSB then set about filling them.
6. Trump is deeply, personally corrupt and the rot is systemic.
7. Fox isn't a real news organization.
8. Trump's supporters are stone racists. They aren't "economically anxious" except in the sense of being fearful of competing on an equal footing and they will never vote for a Democrat ever again.