@Finn dAbuzz,
Finn,
I'm travelling and keeping up only infrequently with these threads,
In regard to your long post from yesterday re Trump, his observable impulsive reactions and the malevolant overreactions of an inherently hostile liberal establishment - Thank you. Very thoughtful and incisive.
What I find odd is that the very prolific Trump haters here apparently don't recognize that, in their own exaggerated responses to to Trump's actions, and their wildly unfounded insights" ( his supposed "abnormality" - blatham , and tyrannical, neo Nazi proclivities -- several others), they are projecting the same excesses of which they accuse him.
Every flaw or peculiarity of any leader or person in the spotlight is vividly apparent to those watching. That's a fate that every leader of any organization must deal with. In the matter of political leadership this phemomenon is exaggerated by the competing partisan preconceptions, viwepoints and habitual interpretations of the divided populace doing the observing. Indeed the expressed observations are often as reflective of the preconceptions of the observers as the qualities or behavior of the leader.
It goes without saying that political supporters of a political leader tend to find positive interpretations of his/her actions and behavior, while opponents tend to be critical. I am bemused, however by the observable tendency of the left or progressives to find flaws in the makeup or characters of their political foes , while conservatives tend to focus more on their perceived beliefs and values. Thus G.W. Bush was stupid and Reagan (in his day) was also a stupid hick, and both lacking in reflective intelligence; while Obama was seen as simply having different values and motives from our own , by their respectrive partisan critics,
Looking back at Obama's Presidency, he was oddly cold and remote in his personal relations with the very politicians he needed to influence to succeed in a democratic government. I suppose one could generate some two-bit psychology out of this, but I never saw much of it. The contrast with reactions to Trump is rather extreme.
Beyond observing an odd and self-serving inclination towards solipsism among liberals who appear to believe they (alone) know all there is to know, I don't have any theory or explanation for this.
The world is a very complex, ever changing place, and our forecasts of it (even those of our prominent, self appointed savants) are routinely confounded by unfolding events. Examples abound from Krugman's recent economic forecasts to the ponderous pronouncements of prominent historians (i.e. Fukuyama's "End of History") - both now laughably wrong.
So far the concrete actions that Trump is taking, both in the selection of his advisors and managers and in his specific governmental actions, appear to me to be very encouraging. (However I am worried about the mental stability of some of his critics.)
