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Edited by Mrph1 on Nov 30th 2023 at 11:03:59 AM

Fourthspartan56 from Georgia, US Since: Oct, 2016 Relationship Status: THIS CONCEPT OF 'WUV' CONFUSES AND INFURIATES US!
#254001: Sep 4th 2018 at 7:08:53 PM

@M84: To be fair, most Presidents are deceptively rather smart (basically all of them seem to have above-average intelligence).

Trump is probably a "smart" person, though likely he has "uneven intelligence" for lack of a better term, being smart in some areas but not others. For example, I'm convinced he's a genius con man.

Of course, even if he is "smart" he's obviously misinformed about the world in general and also pathologically impulsive. This shows in how he talks-he seems very careless with his choice of words and how often he uses them. Still, technically different than being outright stupid.

While he may be situationally intelligent I feel very comfortable believing that his overall intelligence is negligible.

Edited by Fourthspartan56 on Sep 4th 2018 at 10:08:50 AM

"Einstein would turn over in his grave. Not only does God play dice, the dice are loaded." -Chairman Sheng-Ji Yang
M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#254002: Sep 4th 2018 at 7:09:17 PM

[up][up][up][up]That he does get basic facts about the world wrong so often is precisely why I think he wouldn't do so well on that show. He's also convinced that he already knows everything and thus does not need to learn. He may have a talent for marketing himself, but that wouldn't actually help him answer questions.

Edited by M84 on Sep 4th 2018 at 10:11:07 PM

Disgusted, but not surprised
megaeliz Since: Mar, 2017
#254003: Sep 4th 2018 at 7:13:28 PM

I think he may also have Dementia, but I don't know that for certain.

M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#254004: Sep 4th 2018 at 7:14:24 PM

Let's not perform internet armchair psychiatric diagnosis here.

Disgusted, but not surprised
kkhohoho (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#254005: Sep 4th 2018 at 7:14:57 PM

How many times are we going to have to tell people not to do armchair diagnosis before they stop doing it?

Friendperson Since: May, 2018
#254006: Sep 4th 2018 at 7:16:42 PM

More than a couple people are angry at Huffington Post's article on the Kaepernick ad campaign for Nike. Their recent tweet uses pretty inflammatory language. https://twitter.com/HuffPost/status/1037143147648872448

PushoverMediaCritic I'm sorry Tien, but I must go all out. from the Italy of America Since: Jul, 2015 Relationship Status: watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ
I'm sorry Tien, but I must go all out.
#254007: Sep 4th 2018 at 7:17:01 PM

When armchairs are banned forever.

M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#254008: Sep 4th 2018 at 7:18:19 PM

To be fair, most Presidents are deceptively rather smart (basically all of them seem to have above-average intelligence).

And even if Trump does indeed have above average intelligence (which I doubt is the case)...he thinks he's a genius.

Disgusted, but not surprised
Protagonist506 from Oregon Since: Dec, 2013 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
#254009: Sep 4th 2018 at 7:19:49 PM

@M84: I can absolutely guarantee that Trump is not as smart as he thinks he is.

@kkhohoho: To be fair, one of the bigger problems with the internet is that there are armchair experts on everything.

Edited by Protagonist506 on Sep 4th 2018 at 7:23:27 AM

Leviticus 19:34
TheWanderer Student of Story from Somewhere in New England (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: Wishfully thinking
Student of Story
#254010: Sep 4th 2018 at 7:21:03 PM

Regarding the primaries today:

From what I’m hearing, the race to watch tonight is the MA-7 Congressional district. A lot of local reporters and politicos seem to feel it has a chance of being an Occasio-Cortez style upset, and with strikingly similar circumstances. (10 term incumbent who has never really been challenged or had to run a real race [and seems to be reacting to being challenged with a sense of befuddlement] vs a younger, more dynamic challenger who is whipping up enthusiasm in a very blue district.)

The main difference in this case is that the challenger, Pressley, has a history in government, albeit city government.

It's a cool feeling to know you have good information sources. Ayanna Pressley did indeed pull of the upset, she was projected to win awhile ago and her margin of victory has only been growing since then.

Other news from Mass primaries includes Charlie Baker holding off Scott Lively in the Republican primary for governor, making Baker a rare Republican who has refused to cozy up to Trump and is still heading to victory. Considering Baker's approval ratings Lively did better than he should have, (currently at about 37% of the counted votes) but any fears about a popular governor being replaced by a rabidly far right alternative has gone up in smoke.

The 8 way race among Democrats to replace Rep Niki Tsongas in the 3rd district is still a free for all. Right now two candidates (Juana Matias and Lori Trahan) are running neck and neck, separated by only a few hundred votes. A third candidate (Daniel Koh) is currently in a solid and respectable third place that isn't too far back, everyone else is likely out of luck. With only 50% of the vote counted this one may go on for awhile.

Oh, and Brianna Wu, a prime target for the proto-Alt Reich during that subject that shall not be mentioned tried to challenge a lawmaker who has been in office since 2001. Under the circumstances she put in a respectable showing, but despite how delicious it would be to see heads explode all across the country if she got into Congress, it was not to be, and she lost overwhelmingly.

I can absolutely guarantee that Trump is not as smart as he thinks he is.

In fairness, odds are that either nobody on the planet is as smart as Trump likes to think he is.

Edited by TheWanderer on Sep 4th 2018 at 10:28:31 AM

| Wandering, but not lost. | If people bring so much courage to this world...◊ |
M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#254011: Sep 4th 2018 at 7:27:10 PM

[up][up]Armchair psychiatric diagnosis is particularly questionable since a professional psychiatric diagnosis not only requires, well, a professional, it also requires said professional having a lot of very personal sessions with the patient to determine the issue. Just observing their behavior in public is not enough, even for a professional psychiatrist.

There's also a whiff of ableism to it when slapping awful people with a mental illness. Calling them crazy when they're really just shitty people. That's why I try to refrain from calling Trump crazy and stick to calling him a terrible person.

Edited by M84 on Sep 4th 2018 at 10:28:29 PM

Disgusted, but not surprised
Fourthspartan56 from Georgia, US Since: Oct, 2016 Relationship Status: THIS CONCEPT OF 'WUV' CONFUSES AND INFURIATES US!
#254012: Sep 4th 2018 at 7:37:40 PM

How many times are we going to have to tell people not to do armchair diagnosis before they stop doing it?

People will continue doing it as long as Trump continues to display subpar cognition, I'm not defending it but he's fanning the flames by acting demented/generally incoherent.

"Einstein would turn over in his grave. Not only does God play dice, the dice are loaded." -Chairman Sheng-Ji Yang
M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#254014: Sep 4th 2018 at 7:44:54 PM

When someone stages an intervention and has him checked by a psychiatrist who then diagnoses him.

Disgusted, but not surprised
Kakuzan Let memes die. Kill them, if you have to. from Knock knock, open up the door, it's real. Since: Dec, 2014 Relationship Status: Above such petty unnecessities
Let memes die. Kill them, if you have to.
#254015: Sep 4th 2018 at 7:51:16 PM

And even if he does indeed have Demnetia, I am positive that that would be at the bottom of what his problems as a person are.

Edited by Kakuzan on Sep 4th 2018 at 10:50:42 AM

Don't catch you slippin' now.
TheWanderer Student of Story from Somewhere in New England (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: Wishfully thinking
Student of Story
#254016: Sep 4th 2018 at 7:56:14 PM

How far does someone like Trump have to go before they stop being an egotistical, narcissistic jackass and start being literally mentally unwell?

It's fairly safe to say Trump has gone far enough, but as far as I know none of us is qualified to judge that on a professional level, and modern psychology tends to balk very strongly at making a diagnosis unless it's through prolonged in-person experience with someone, (as opposed to going on what you see on the tv) so... *subject dropped*

Just wanted to quote a little thing that jumped out at me from the Washington Post article on the Mass primaries:

Pressley, 44, is set to become the first black woman to represent any part of New England in Congress, as Republicans are running no candidate in the 7th Congressional District. Capuano, 66, first won the seat in 1998, but struggled to keep up with Pressley as she argued that a young and majority-nonwhite district needed a fresh voice in Congress.

Wow. I knew it was a big deal to have a young black woman defeating an old white man in Boston, which has a pretty notorious past on issues of race, but I didn't realize it was quite that big a deal.

It's too bad both can't be in Congress, as Capuano has a rather progressive record and has a very clean reputation, but apparently Pressley has been considered a star that was ready to launch for a long time in local politics, and she seized her moment.

Edited by TheWanderer on Sep 4th 2018 at 10:56:20 AM

| Wandering, but not lost. | If people bring so much courage to this world...◊ |
Rationalinsanity from Halifax, Canada Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
#254017: Sep 4th 2018 at 8:36:39 PM

44 is young now?tongue

Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#254018: Sep 4th 2018 at 8:37:59 PM

It is kind of silly to think of 44 as young when one recalls that a fourteen year old recently was a candidate in one of the Democratic primaries.

Shit, I think 30 is old. (I'm over thirty, btw)

<stares morosely at his breakfast of oatmeal>

Edited by M84 on Sep 4th 2018 at 11:41:07 PM

Disgusted, but not surprised
TheWanderer Student of Story from Somewhere in New England (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: Wishfully thinking
Student of Story
#254019: Sep 4th 2018 at 8:43:11 PM

[up][up] Considering the average age in the House is now 57, the Senate is 61, and it's fairly likely for one to live into their 80s, yes. tongue

Now don't make this old man who is turning 38 in 3 weeks have to kick your butt. Get off my lawn already ya damn punk. winktongue

Edited by TheWanderer on Sep 4th 2018 at 11:42:45 AM

| Wandering, but not lost. | If people bring so much courage to this world...◊ |
M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#254021: Sep 4th 2018 at 8:51:11 PM

I tell you young'uns, nothing like a bowl of plain oatmeal for breakfast to make you appreciate the rest of the day. Because after choking down a bowl of bland sludge, your day can only go up.

Disgusted, but not surprised
Steven (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: YOU'RE TEARING ME APART LISA
#254022: Sep 4th 2018 at 9:12:34 PM

Trump regrets his "corrective" speech he gave at Charolettesville. Basically, his staff had to convince him to make a second speech to condemn the KKK and Nazis. Trump then exploded when he saw the news react to his speech, claiming that he would never do such a speech ever again because it made him look weak.

Remember, these idiots drive, fuck, and vote. Not always in that order.
AlleyOop Since: Oct, 2010
#254023: Sep 4th 2018 at 9:23:14 PM

Hmm, I thought we had black Congresscritters from New England, particularly Althea Garrison who was a trans woman, but looking it up it turns out she was a member of the state senate rather than the national Congress.

TheWanderer Student of Story from Somewhere in New England (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: Wishfully thinking
Student of Story
#254024: Sep 4th 2018 at 9:23:18 PM

The 8 way race among Democrats to replace Rep Niki Tsongas in the 3rd district is still a free for all. Right now two candidates (Juana Matias and Lori Trahan) are running neck and neck, separated by only a few hundred votes. A third candidate (Daniel Koh) is currently in a solid and respectable third place that isn't too far back, everyone else is likely out of luck. With only 50% of the vote counted this one may go on for awhile.

This race is still ongoing. The candidate that was in third when I made my previous post, Daniel Koh, leapfrogged into second place and Matias has now fallen back into the solid 3rd. On Vox' website less than 40 votes separate Koh and Trahan for the lead. (The Boston Globe, meanwhile, has more votes counted and Koh actually in first by a couple of hundred votes.) This race may well be headed to a recount unless someone has a section of the district where they're insanely popular and it's yet to be counted.

Also, according to the Boston Globe some longtime Democrats in state politics appear to have lost to younger challengers. I've remarked a few times in recent years about the ossified system Democrats follow that places a big premium on seniority. Maybe a changing of the guard is happening and the seniority system is going to go by the wayside. If nothing else it's good seeing more people get involved, and more people voting.

| Wandering, but not lost. | If people bring so much courage to this world...◊ |
Parable Since: Aug, 2009
#254025: Sep 4th 2018 at 9:30:51 PM

That does remind me about something that I think Ocasio-Cortez said earlier about the Old Guard of the Democrats; that there's nothing necessarily wrong with Pelosi or Feinstein or the dude who lost the primary tonight, but the Old Guard are, well, old. And they want the party to be more representative of the whole people, and to be able to stick around longer than the crop elected before the turn of the century.


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