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A review by desertjarhead505
A Very Stable Genius: Donald J. Trump's Testing of America by Carol Leonnig, Philip Rucker
4.0
This is half an examination of the character and actions of Donald Trump, and half one of how the American system of his targets fared - the rule of law, the major parties, the news media from left to right, and the public. Looking back from spring of 2021 (the book was written in 2019), the results seem mixed at best.
Trump's attempt to steal the election, and then his follow-on attempt to nullify it and for all practical purposes overthrow the government, failed. The winner of the election is now president. The political cannon fodder from Trump's following that carried out his attack on Congress failed, and an ever-increasing number are being arrested and facing long prison terms.
On the other hand, we don't know yet, as of April 2021, to what extent Trump himself will face any real consequences. His control of the Republican party seems as strong as ever, and that party has reacted to the widespread rejection of their values and actions not by reconsidering and trying to appeal to more of the electorate, but by trying to prevent as many people from voting as they can, focusing particularly on groups that seem likelier to vote for Democrats. This is an attack on democracy that's probably even more serious than the one Trump launched on January 6 of this year.
Trump's basic nature comes through loud and clear in the authors' recounting of his words and actions, both those that took place in front of cameras on on Twitter and those related by people around him who appear credible. Of course, the title comes from his self-description. Another author, journalist Douglas Brinkley, referred to Trump's 'cavernous stupidity', and that is a better fit to reality. Donald Trump appears to be the most extreme example of the Dunning-Kruger effect (the phenomenon of the people who know the least about subjects believing they are experts) that has ever set foot in the White House.
Trump did not being his political career in a healthy country, or a healthy party, and singlehandedly warp them, but he made the pre-existing damage much worse. He has been both symptom and exacerbator. His influence before, during, and so far after his presidency has been a crisis for America. His lying and bungling about the COVID-19 pandemic, which the people who know most about it say probably caused 400,000 more American deaths of the disease than would have happened if it had been managed honestly and competently, is just one facet. Our country will still be healing from the wounds and the sickness for which he will be remembered long after he's gone. I can only hope that he serves as an inoculation so that when a sociopath who actually is a genius comes along, our societal and political immune system will be more ready than it was for Trump.
Trump's attempt to steal the election, and then his follow-on attempt to nullify it and for all practical purposes overthrow the government, failed. The winner of the election is now president. The political cannon fodder from Trump's following that carried out his attack on Congress failed, and an ever-increasing number are being arrested and facing long prison terms.
On the other hand, we don't know yet, as of April 2021, to what extent Trump himself will face any real consequences. His control of the Republican party seems as strong as ever, and that party has reacted to the widespread rejection of their values and actions not by reconsidering and trying to appeal to more of the electorate, but by trying to prevent as many people from voting as they can, focusing particularly on groups that seem likelier to vote for Democrats. This is an attack on democracy that's probably even more serious than the one Trump launched on January 6 of this year.
Trump's basic nature comes through loud and clear in the authors' recounting of his words and actions, both those that took place in front of cameras on on Twitter and those related by people around him who appear credible. Of course, the title comes from his self-description. Another author, journalist Douglas Brinkley, referred to Trump's 'cavernous stupidity', and that is a better fit to reality. Donald Trump appears to be the most extreme example of the Dunning-Kruger effect (the phenomenon of the people who know the least about subjects believing they are experts) that has ever set foot in the White House.
Trump did not being his political career in a healthy country, or a healthy party, and singlehandedly warp them, but he made the pre-existing damage much worse. He has been both symptom and exacerbator. His influence before, during, and so far after his presidency has been a crisis for America. His lying and bungling about the COVID-19 pandemic, which the people who know most about it say probably caused 400,000 more American deaths of the disease than would have happened if it had been managed honestly and competently, is just one facet. Our country will still be healing from the wounds and the sickness for which he will be remembered long after he's gone. I can only hope that he serves as an inoculation so that when a sociopath who actually is a genius comes along, our societal and political immune system will be more ready than it was for Trump.