Thread by @ErrataRob

What distresses me most about political polarization is how it demands that smart people must nonetheless insist on stupidity.

Biden fell because of toe clips. Even young riders sometimes get their feet fouled in toe clips and fall over.

https://twitter.com/PoliticsInsider/status/1549485357720379392

Yes, somebody in their 70s is likely to have more coordination problems, so is more likely to fall over because of toe clips. So it's not as if there is no aging issues here.

But the fact that Joe can ride a bicycle (as opposed to Trump who can't) is a sign of vitality.

The majority of the population hasn't ridden with toe clips, so this leaves their mind as an important factor in the incident. In their minds, it's reduced to Joe Biden falling over. And because they politically want to be believe, they become impervious to truth.

It's equally the case with Trump struggling to walk down a ramp. We know he wears lifts in his shoes because he's vain about his height. We know it's a steep ramp. Anybody walking down a steep ramp in lifts will struggle.

We know these facts yet people who hate want to ignore them and insist that something else is wrong with Trump. Yes, many things are wrong with Trump, but there's nothing particular wrong with #rampgate.

Polarization demands that be must see everything in the stupidest possible light, to justify our hate for one or the other.

I've been an executive and handed such things. I've called my assistant and asked which city I was in. At a certain level you cease to be able to cope with everything and simply let yourself be handled by your handlers.

https://twitter.com/MattwThorn/status/1549514221871849472

I was merely a CTO at a small 100 person company meeting with customers, press, and doing speech, a tiny fraction of what a President of the US must deal with. I know for a fact that a young vigorous president (e.g. Obama) was bewildered most of the time.