Etiquette



DP Etiquette

First rule: Don't be a jackass.

Other rules: Do not attack or insult people you disagree with. Engage with facts, logic and beliefs. Out of respect for others, please provide some sources for the facts and truths you rely on if you are asked for that. If emotion is getting out of hand, get it back in hand. To limit dehumanizing people, don't call people or whole groups of people disrespectful names, e.g., stupid, dumb or liar. Insulting people is counterproductive to rational discussion. Insult makes people angry and defensive. All points of view are welcome, right, center, left and elsewhere. Just disagree, but don't be belligerent or reject inconvenient facts, truths or defensible reasoning.

Tuesday, July 23, 2024

In fear, DJT lashes out in incoherent, blind anger; A new psychological reality appears

The HuffPo writes about DJT's move to avoid debating Kamala on the already-slated Sept. 10 debate. That shows real fear and some understanding of the threat Kamala is to his candidacy and fake reputation:
Former President Donald Trump continued his attacks against ABC News on Monday as he moved to shift his commitment to the next presidential debate now that Vice President Kamala Harris is the frontrunner to be the Democratic nominee.

Trump began laying the groundwork this weekend to dodge or change the rules of the second debate he’s agreed to, which is set to be held Sept. 10 and broadcast on ABC. The former president has been livid after President Joe Biden ended his bid for reelection on Sunday.

“ABC Fake News is such a joke, among the absolute WORST in the business,” he wrote on Truth Social. “They then tried to make ‘Sleepy’ look like a great President — he was the WORST, and Lyin’ Kamala into a competent person, which she is not.”  
“ABC, the home of George Slopadopolus, is not worthy of holding a Debate, of which I hope there will be many!” he went on, using a demeaning name for host George Stephanopoulos.
DJT's insulting lies, slanders and ad hominem attacks evince real fear of Kamala. He is obviously afraid of her. Other reporting that telegraphs his fear and confusion:

Brilliant young man? = fear
Pole numbers? = mental slop


The fear aspect of this is odd. On the one hand, Dems did not fear Biden enough to try to convince him to step down. On the other, despite DJT's fear of Kamala, the Repubs are too scared of the obviously unfit and unqualified DJT to even consider asking him to step aside. Of course DJT, like nearly all morally depraved dictators would never step aside, even if asked. For Biden, it was ultimately about what is best for the nation. For DJT, it is always about what is best for DJT.
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Writing for The Atlantic Anne Applebaum touches on a new perception: 
Suddenly Trump Looks Older and More Deranged

Now the Republicans are the ones saddled with a candidate who can’t make a clear argument or finish a sentence

Four days after the end of the Republican National Convention, it suddenly looks like a very different event. I watched it intermittently, on television, along with perhaps 25 million other Americans (a relatively small number, though enough to matter). I focused on the highlights, like most viewers did. I read the analysis and thought I understood what had happened. But in the light of President Joe Biden’s brave and unprecedented decision to drop out of the race, my memory of what Donald Trump and his party were doing and saying has permanently shifted. I suspect this will be true for at least some of the other 25 million of us too.

Whatever happens next, the frame has altered. Now it is the Republicans who are saddled with the elderly candidate, the one who can’t make a clear argument or finish a sentence without veering off into anecdote. Now the Democrats are instead proposing something new. Now it is the many pundits who were already bored by the race and ready to wrap it up who look foolish.
Based on comments I have read by readers of WaPo and NYT articles this morning, a new perception has already become apparent to a lot of people. With eyes and worries lifted from Biden, and with Repub memories of their blistering criticisms of him, people are seeing DJT with fresh eyes. What they see is a nasty old liar who is mentally incompetent. DJT and the Repubs cannot accuse Kamala of mental unfitness or doddering old age. That takes away at least two of their most potent propaganda weapons. From what I can tell, a lot of people now apparently better see that the accusations of Biden apply to DJT. Now DJT's moral depravity and cruel selfishness stand out more clearly because the criticisms of Biden no longer can help to obscure his true character.

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