Poll questions are supposed to measure opinions. They’re not supposed to have clear right or wrong answers. No pollster would ask a question like: “Do you believe the sun rises in the east all the time, sometimes, or never?” Or “Do you believe A is the first letter of the English alphabet all the time, sometimes, or never?”
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Shame renders apologies meaningless because it transforms actions into identity. You didn’t offend me; you are offensive. You didn’t make a mistake; you are a mistake. And if apologies are meaningless, why bother to apologize? If there’s no hope for forgiveness, why bother to change? Those are the questions Trump’s followers have been asking for a long time, and he gave them an answer: Don’t.
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The breakdown of civility has been written about extensively with regard to our political system, but it reflects a much more fundamental breakdown in the social norms that underpinned our culture for so long. Those norms can be expressed in just five words: Please. Thank you. You’re welcome.
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People have marveled how so many working-class Americans relate to a millionaire playboy. But that’s not what they relate to. They relate to his false victimhood and his desire to blow up a system they see as unfair... to them. Much of their victimhood is a figment of their imagination, but it serves a purpose. It’s a rationalization that gives them an excuse to spread more chaos.
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Hey, anti-vaxxers, since you’re all about freedom, try this on for size: Try spending your life with chronic bronchitis, recurring asthma, and occasional bouts of pneumonia? Imagine for just a moment that the chance you’ll die by drowning in your own body fluids is a good deal higher than it is for most people. How’s that for freedom?
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The best comedy pokes fun at the absurdity of the human condition. What could be more absurd than that condition known as Trumpism, and what could be funnier than a classic Monty Python skit? They were seemingly made for each other. So it’s hardly a shock that one of the best Python skits explains the appeal of Trump’s con to his gullible “base” to absolute perfection.
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