re: #97 EPR-radar

Trump is by far the most evil major US political figure in my lifetime.

The Republican party has degenerated to the point where Trump and Trumpist imitators are simply what’s to be expected, so the GOP as a whole is evil.

It isn’t hard to see how this happened. It started with the southern strategy, and expanded over time to where the GOP establishment gave up any pretense of caring about governance in favor of stoking bigoted resentments in their base.

I’ve seen the word ‘evil’ used so much - generally by the Right to describe practically anything they hate - that I avoid it, mostly. I reserve it for the intentional infliction of unnecessary suffering, solely for one’s own pleasure or benefit.

Viewed this way, Trump is more dangerous than evil, because he doesn’t really care about the effects of the demons he’s raising, beyond their ability to get him votes. He’s happy to appeal to the worst in white Americans and to inflame their bigotry if it gets him votes. If innocent people suffer, he doesn’t care.

I don’t even think he believes a lot of what he says. He apparently, in his unscripted speeches, basically goes where the audience leads. That is, he starts talking and listens to what gets applause, then he goes there. It’s no wonder his supporters say he says what they’ve been thinking. They’re absolutely right.