There have been allegations by a whistle blower that President
Trump made improper suggestions during a phone call to the
president-elect of the Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenski. Trump
supposedly asked Zelenski to 'look into', then Vice-president
Joe Biden's son, Hunter Biden, and his connections with a
natural gas firm where Hunter sat on the board. The
accusations had been examined and were found to be
baseless. How thorough and unbiased the inquiry was
is not the question at this time.
Over the weekend, during an impromptu news conference
- aren't they all - Trump stated to the twenty-five or so
reporters in attendance that during that phone call he
congratulated the Ukrainian President, Zeleinski, and that
he might have mentioned Joe Biden and Hunter. He told
reporters, "It was largely the fact that we don't want our
people, like Vice President Biden and his son, creating
to (sic) the corruption already in the Ukraine". WOW!
Trump is the master of the complex fallacy, he managed
to make not one, but two, false accusations in one
sentence. He threw suspicion on Joe Biden and his son
Hunter, while also painting the Ukrainian government as
corrupt.
There is a saying, 'when you point a finger at me, you have
three fingers pointing at yourself'. Trump has elevated that
to an art, and he does it with aplomb. He uses cognitive
biases with the skill of a surgical laser, he has created his
own subjective social reality. He is a product of, so called,
reality television where Trump envisioned himself the mammoth
business tycoon who could berate job applicants and belittle
prospective employees, and still have them fawn over him,
groveling sycophants inflating his ego, until he turned on them
and said, "You're fired!'". There remains the question whether
Trump suffers from narcissism or solipsism.
Trump has elevated evasionary tactics to new heights, he uses
half-truths, out-right lies, red herrings, and straw men to
obfuscate and complicate any question of impropriety on his
part. His repeated declaration of 'no collusion, no obstruction'
was his answer to the Mueller Report. He said it so often,
even the House of Representatives apparently believed it. he
is capable of turning any question around, and diverting it back
onto the questioner. The deflection of his statement that he
'could grab any woman by the p***y' and get away with it,
was pure terpsichory, oooooh, dance a little sidestep. He
simply turned it into a discussion on ISIS. He uses nick-
names like; little Marco, lyin' Ted, low energy Jeb, crooked
Hillary, sleepy Joe and Pocahontas, instead of dialogue in
the debates, and when the unwitting press picks up the
ad homs, they become self-fulfilling prophecies.
Claims of corruption and out-right illegality have had no effect
on his candidacy or his presidency. It helps that he is shielded
by a willing Senate that is compliant in his wrong-doings,
a Senate that fears his ability to marshal his followers and to
'primary' anyone who dares to challenge him, though there are
House members who are feeling the pressure and some are
folding their tents and calling it quits, or maybe, just maybe
they have developed a conscience.
Trump uses false dichotomy to strike fear in the hearts of his
dedicated band of MAGAs; build a wall or have open boarders,
Chinese tariffs or no more jobs, vote for him or face a recession,
restrict Muslims or sharia law, the list is endless. There is no grey,
only black or white. When Trump says Mexicans are murderers
and rapists, and Muslims are terrorists, and Chinese are thieves
he is building a masked man fallacy. He offers a false dilemma,
it is one way - his way - or disaster of immense proportion. You
have only two options, which one do you like?
When faced with exposure, he cries 'fake news', when confronted
with logic, he argues from incredulity. And when all else fails, his
fall back is; argumentum ad lapidem, appeal to the stone, or as your
mama used to say 'because I said so'.
And, I'm just sayin'.
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