Stuart, I do not think your view and John's are different; you state them differently. I find in many discussions with others the propensity to equate Biden's cognitive dysfunction with Trump's strong personality. However, suppose one has a smattering of discernment. In that case, it is clear that Trump's braggadocio persona is coupled w…
Stuart, I do not think your view and John's are different; you state them differently. I find in many discussions with others the propensity to equate Biden's cognitive dysfunction with Trump's strong personality. However, suppose one has a smattering of discernment. In that case, it is clear that Trump's braggadocio persona is coupled with a 4th grade vocabulary, and "like you've never seen before" stupidity about history, the Bible, ecology, the weather, ad nauseum, coupled with non-stop lying, diviseness, retribution, bullying, all typical of a nationalist.
In medicine, when we face a patient with multi-factorial disease conditions, the real physician thinks, "What is going to kill this person or do the most harm?" We do not focus on trimming the patient's nails while he is having a GI hemorrhage and is in shock. Believe that this is a real issue. As a resident, highly trained in the US military before my residency, I was faced with a young woman who was bleeding out from what later was found to be a large gastric ulcer. I used my prior training to insert an intravenous internal jugular line to administer blood and other fluids rapidly. I inserted a Foley (indwelling) urinary catheter to measure urine output. The next day, on ICU rounds, the attending MD, PW, chastised me for doing the above. He wanted me to do a cut-down procedure on the brachial vein - that would have taken me time to order up the procedure kit, and do a surgical procedure that all together would have spanned at a minimum 20 minutes. He objected to inserting a Foley catheter.
Meanwhile, the patient was wide awake, normal blood pressure, and doing well enough that within a few days she was able to be discharged. The THL (take home lesson) from this is have perspective on what is most threatening in a situation where a negative outcome has severe consequences. This is what is missing in so many Americans. They equate Biden's frailty with Trump's immorality, destructiveness and vile behavior towards other humans and towards the environment.
Stephen, Yes indeed. In addition to needing to be able to perceive what is most important at any given moment (what medical procedure in your example is most efficacious and desirable) is the need to see the benefits long term versus short term. My concern for blue collar MAGA supporters (at the risk of sounding elitist) is my thought that many are more interested in "owning the libtards, reeking revenge on those they see who have wronged Trump" than they are about truly understanding the impact of deporting millions of people - will jobs get done, will tax revenue go down significantly, especially social security? - than seeing the devastation that Trump's policies are already having on many of their lives. Trump offers a good/bad, us/them, black/wide philosophy which has for many a certain appeal. What frustrates me to no end (and this happened in the 1930s In Germany, Italy, Spain) is that the bad guys are not seen as the capitalists, the billionaires, but as the poor people next door. The illegals are somehow more a threat than the billionaires. As of late 2024, the combined net worth of all U.S. billionaires is estimated at $6.72 trillion, spread across 813 individuals. Assuming there are about 15.5 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S., the aggregate net worth would be roughly $589 billion. So the immigrants with 10% of the wealth of the billionaires are more a problem than the billionaires who have over 1000% as much?? But that landscaper, that painter, that housecleaner is the problem? On average each billionaire is worth more than 100,000 illegal immigrants with a net worth of $38,000. But the immigrants are the problem, not our tax system. And MAGA people either don't care, don't believe or are ignorant of even a smattering of this. And so it continues from one generation to the next....
Stuart, I do not think your view and John's are different; you state them differently. I find in many discussions with others the propensity to equate Biden's cognitive dysfunction with Trump's strong personality. However, suppose one has a smattering of discernment. In that case, it is clear that Trump's braggadocio persona is coupled with a 4th grade vocabulary, and "like you've never seen before" stupidity about history, the Bible, ecology, the weather, ad nauseum, coupled with non-stop lying, diviseness, retribution, bullying, all typical of a nationalist.
In medicine, when we face a patient with multi-factorial disease conditions, the real physician thinks, "What is going to kill this person or do the most harm?" We do not focus on trimming the patient's nails while he is having a GI hemorrhage and is in shock. Believe that this is a real issue. As a resident, highly trained in the US military before my residency, I was faced with a young woman who was bleeding out from what later was found to be a large gastric ulcer. I used my prior training to insert an intravenous internal jugular line to administer blood and other fluids rapidly. I inserted a Foley (indwelling) urinary catheter to measure urine output. The next day, on ICU rounds, the attending MD, PW, chastised me for doing the above. He wanted me to do a cut-down procedure on the brachial vein - that would have taken me time to order up the procedure kit, and do a surgical procedure that all together would have spanned at a minimum 20 minutes. He objected to inserting a Foley catheter.
Meanwhile, the patient was wide awake, normal blood pressure, and doing well enough that within a few days she was able to be discharged. The THL (take home lesson) from this is have perspective on what is most threatening in a situation where a negative outcome has severe consequences. This is what is missing in so many Americans. They equate Biden's frailty with Trump's immorality, destructiveness and vile behavior towards other humans and towards the environment.
Stephen, Yes indeed. In addition to needing to be able to perceive what is most important at any given moment (what medical procedure in your example is most efficacious and desirable) is the need to see the benefits long term versus short term. My concern for blue collar MAGA supporters (at the risk of sounding elitist) is my thought that many are more interested in "owning the libtards, reeking revenge on those they see who have wronged Trump" than they are about truly understanding the impact of deporting millions of people - will jobs get done, will tax revenue go down significantly, especially social security? - than seeing the devastation that Trump's policies are already having on many of their lives. Trump offers a good/bad, us/them, black/wide philosophy which has for many a certain appeal. What frustrates me to no end (and this happened in the 1930s In Germany, Italy, Spain) is that the bad guys are not seen as the capitalists, the billionaires, but as the poor people next door. The illegals are somehow more a threat than the billionaires. As of late 2024, the combined net worth of all U.S. billionaires is estimated at $6.72 trillion, spread across 813 individuals. Assuming there are about 15.5 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S., the aggregate net worth would be roughly $589 billion. So the immigrants with 10% of the wealth of the billionaires are more a problem than the billionaires who have over 1000% as much?? But that landscaper, that painter, that housecleaner is the problem? On average each billionaire is worth more than 100,000 illegal immigrants with a net worth of $38,000. But the immigrants are the problem, not our tax system. And MAGA people either don't care, don't believe or are ignorant of even a smattering of this. And so it continues from one generation to the next....