“Ignoramus” and Other Terms of Flattery
So far, Secretary of State Tillerson has erroneously referred to his boss, Donald Trump as a “moron’” while National Security Advisor McMaster apparently felt that the term “idiot” was the more accurate designation. While I understand completely why someone so blatantly ignorant of and worse yet, uninterested in the information necessary to perform the job of President of the United States might be labeled “moron,” “idiot’” or any of several other epithets describing the level of his I.Q., these terms are probably insulting to those people, who through no fault of their own, actually possess intellects in those ranges. While I empathize with both cabinet members’ frustration, I respectfully submit that a much more appropriate designation would be “ignoramus.”
Whether due to arrogance, egomania, narcissism, compensation for an enigmatic inferiority complex, some other deep seated psychological problem or some form of dementia, Mr. Trump remains completely ignorant of even the basic functions of the government, the Constitution, the judiciary, the press or even of the value of common decency. For anyone who says he “never saw it coming,” I need only remind him of Michele Bachmann, Sarah Palin, Allen West, and other Tea Party extremists completely unfamiliar with the concept of a corroborated fact. And now, ironically, Kellyanne Conway and Sarah Huckabee Sanders, two people with obviously above average IQs are clearly feigning blatant stupidity in the face of their president’s embarrassing admission of his guilt in accosting women even before being publicly accused in the press.
The real difference between Roy Moore, Al Franken, and Donald Trump is that Moore is in denial, Franken admitted his indiscretion(s) after being “caught,” while Trump gleefully admitted them before being caught and then asked that the admissions be excused because they were those of a liar. That, in turn, begs the famous question: “were you lying then or are you lying now?” I have to admit, I couldn’t really fault someone for calling that... “stupid.” On the other hand, after listening to the Access Hollywood tapes again, I find Mr. Trump’s allegation that the voice on the tape is not his to be a simple lie since he already acknowledged saying those things. However, his contention that the voice on the tape is Hillary’s definitely merits a dementia workup. Meanwhile, anyone who thinks he's doing the country a service by defending Mr. Trump probably needs to visit the nearest outhouse and have a little talk with himself since his head is conveniently up in the appropriate location already.
Allen Finkelstein, 11/20/17 (Edited 12/7/17)