LEONARD PITTS JR.: Trumps definitely not the brains of the operation and thats a good thing

[babylonsister]

http://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/opn-columns-blogs/leonard-pitts-jr/article196972759.html

Trump’s definitely not the brains of the operation — and that’s a good thing
By LEONARD PITTS JR.
January 26, 2018 07:42 PM

snip//

But what if Trump were smart?

More to the point, what if there arose some future demagogue who combined Trump’s new media savvy with a toxic ideology? It’s not far-fetched to wonder if Trump is not simply writing that individual’s playbook, showing her or him how easily a stable democracy can be subverted.

So even as we grapple with the daily outrages of this presidency, it would be smart to begin inoculating future generations against one that could be worse. Now, then, would be an excellent time to push even harder for Internet giants like Facebook and Twitter to find better ways of purging their platforms of false news and hate.

Now would also be an excellent time for schools to beef up their teaching of philosophy, history, civics, social studies. Teach those things as a means of helping people to think critically, value truth and internalize the ideals that are supposed to make America America.

The hope — in the end, the only real hope we have — is that people who do all that will be less susceptible to toxic ideologies.

Consider that, even lacking a real ideology, toxic or otherwise, Trump has already inflicted damage. It is hardly coincidental that the New York City Anti-Violence Project just reported that 2017 saw an 86 percent spike in hate crime killings of LGBTQ people. Or that the FBI arrested a Michigan man a few days ago after he allegedly threatened to murder CNN reporters for reporting, as Trump calls it, “fake news.” Or that the Pew Research Center found that the percentage of nations expressing confidence in America sank from 64 percent to 22 percent in the first months of the Trump regime. Or that the percentage of Americans expressing confidence in their government has dropped 14 percentage points to just 33 percent over the last year, according to an annual survey by Edelman, a communications marketing firm.

All this and much more has been done to us by someone who is not smart.

What do you suppose might be done to us by someone who was?

[RandomAccess]

1. Yes, I've frequently been GREATFUL he's so damned incompetent

We'd be in REAL trouble were he not.

Good advice in this article.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

2. Putin is smart and strategic. . . . . nt

[Sophia4]

3. Trump is the incompetent, nasty man he is because he is stupid.

A truly intelligent person understands and cares. Trump neither understands nor cares. He is not capable of understanding or caring about others or the world. It's all Trump all the time. That's the definition of stupid.

[catbyte]

4. I've been grateful that he's so goddamned lazy. He really is a Mussolini wannabe, but he just

doesn't have the dedication to go full-on dictator.

[lark]

5. Putin is smart and he's telling drumpf how to destroy America, piece by piece.

drumpf is not calling the shots strategically, he's too stupid and maleable by Putin.

[usaf-vet]

6. WHO is?

Trump reacts like a one cell biological organism. It will change direction or retract away when it comes in contact (other than food) with any obstruction. As for brains.... NONE. None needed.

[bitterross]

7. Frightening Thought - What if he were competent?

Just think of the evil he could be doing now if he actually were a focused, stable genius.

[rickford66]

8. The media aided in this terrible situation.

Televising hours of an empty podium, waiting for Trump to speak, while ignoring ongoing speeches from Sanders, Clinton and others. Asking softball questions. Not following up with questions. Not confronting him with facts. If it was only FOX, he wouldn't have been "elected". The fate of our democracy is in the balance this coming year. I am not religious, but I may start praying. I am hopeful for the Women's Marches. That may be our finger on the balance.

[PatSeg]

9. Yes

The media was a disgraceful enabler. I've never seen a candidate's every word, every move, every breath covered the way they covered Trump. There would be an occasional break from the Trump marathon to report yet again on Hillary's emails.

There were a number of factors that put Trump in the White House, the media was a big part of it. Trump has always been a media hound and they gave him pretty much whatever he wanted, even while he called them "fake news".

[PatrickforO]

10. This is why net neutrality is such a big deal, and why we need the Fairness

Doctrine reinstated.

To get everyone operating from the same set of facts.

[Poiuyt]

11. Trump would like to have a fascist regime, but he's too stupid and too lazy