I agree, and I am in favor of protectionist tariffs. But it does seem to be poor strategy to rush into high tariffs without the pieces put in the place for American industry to grow and benefit. That said, I don't believe Trump is that stupid (despite the trendy opinion to the contrary), and I think he knows this is doomed to fail if the goal is immediate American industry bloom. Which is why I don't believe these are intended to be long term. Based on how the other tariffs have gone, it seems to be more of a negotiation tactic to reduce tariffs on both sides, not protectionism. China has just put up more of a resistance to it than other nations have, so now it's turned into a game of chicken.
Do you think he's acting when he does things like keep preventing an interviewer from moving on because he wants to make extra sure everyone knows he entirely believes that obviously-photoshopped, not-trying-to-look-like-anything-but-an-overlay letters and numbers on a picture of someone's hand were in fact real tattoos?
I mean, it's one example. Do you think the constantly that he presents as conspicuously extremely stupid is all an act? Do you think the several people who've been close to him who describe him as breathtakingly stupid are lying, or incorrect (fooled by another part of that act, one supposes)?
I don't see what gets people to class as unlikely the notion that he might be a really stupid guy with some really dumb ideas who's being pulled multiple directions by other people who may or may not also be dumb but do have bad/evil ideas. To me that appears overwhelmingly to be the most likely explanation for... all of it, really. It may still be wrong! But why isn't it—at least—a top contender, explanation-wise?
> Do you think the several people who've been close to him who describe him as breathtakingly stupid are lying, or incorrect (fooled by another part of that act, one supposes)?
James Comey wrote that he was moderately intelligent (I forget Comey's exact phrasing).
And I think that's true.
He's smart enough to know when to lie to escape legal jeopardy, so I think that's a mark of some amount of intelligence.
But he is also horriffically broken in some part of his personality, to the point where he lacks empathy, and constantly lies to obtain advantage.
Because if Trump is really truly an idiot, what does that make the people who willingly chose to vote for him and didn't see that? People just can't accept what that says about their own judgement, so they have to pretend it's all an act.
Because if Trump is really truly an idiot, what does that make the people who willingly chose to vote for him and didn't see that? People just can't accept that possibility, so they have to pretend it's all an act.
They're trying to tell you that Trump is as stupid as he seems. For many people, they're faking being stupid. Trump, like George W Bush, is not. There's no 4D chess going on here, whatever seems like the simplest explanation with Trump is almost always exactly what's being done. Keep it simple. Trump likes simple.
I hate to break it to you, but George W. Bush isn't stupid. While GW Bush did cultivate that "dumb hick" persona, that's all it was -- a fake persona.
This gubernatorial debate[0] (from 1994) between then Governor Ann Richards and George W. Bush will give the lie to the idea that 'Dubya' is dumb. Definitely an amoral jerk, but not dumb.
I've yet to gain access to a level of "high place" at which the distribution of competence and intelligence is a ton different from a median public high school classroom. It's been one of the more disturbing discoveries of my adult life, that every time I get insight into one of these it's barely better than anything else on that front, and usually worse in the ethics and trustworthiness department.
