I got distracted. There were all those incredible color charts from both the Financial Times and Our World in Data showing the rise and fall of COVID cases and deaths in up to six different countries and/or six U.S. states. Charting COVID from the very beginning of the virus to a day or two ago.
Then came the criminal invasion of Ukraine. So, I was focused on one epidemic and ignored the other. And I failed to pay proper attention to the appalling spread of stupidity across the American landscape. I even missed most of the Supreme Court hearings.
But now I’m doing my best to catch up.
Some preliminary thoughts: it turns out that those who study Long Stupid have faced the same impediments as those researching the causes and effects of Long COVID. It’s certainly understandable; the pandemic has been so dreadful and so very deadly, our medical community has pretty much been in a never-ending crisis treating the patients in our hospitals. And the terrible effects of Long COVID and the millions suffering from it have been neglected.
Sadly, that’s true of Long Stupid. And there hasn’t been a lot of work done with those affected with Long Stupid. Almost all of whom, I’m guessing, would dispute the diagnosis itself, and refuse treatment.
Though there are many different names used to describe the condition, probably all of us have had experience with Just Plain Stupid. Some have to come to know it as Ordinary Stupid, while still others call it Mainstream Stupid.
Unaware of what’s happening in academia and the research institutes, the majority of us have learned to live with it. We see it almost everywhere we look. Some of us have Just Plain Stupid relatives. More than a few of us have Just Plain Stupid bosses. It’s not hard to come across Just Plain Stupid whenever you call Customer Support. And considering the divorce rate, it’s not hard to imagine many have married Just Plain Stupid.
For years, some have done their best to warn us about it. The sadly-no-longer-with-us George Carlin tried very hard to explain how, while the normal one-on-one exposure to stupid might be tolerable, be very careful when one becomes two, and two becomes four, and you do the math: “Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups.”
Then, he issued a special alert for those who actually understand statistics: “Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.” And it’s the especially large numbers, the multiplying effect as stupid moves from one to another, adapting and growing more resistant to common sense and rationality. Yes, there’s a quantitative difference, but even more significant a qualitative difference when it comes to stupidity which has been festering.
We all make mistakes. And we all possess some bits and pieces of our personality that could use a make-over. That’s where deep breaths, and an occasional hot fudge sundae and maybe some therapy come in. And it certainly doesn’t hurt to say you’re sorry. The problem comes when the stupid are absolutely convinced they’re smart.
If he wanted to survive, Martin Luther King Jr., like so many people of color, was required to deal with a whole bunch of ignorant white folks who, deep in their bones, knew they were smart for being born white, which meant he just had to be the stupid one.
Recently, I’ve spent time reading some of the transcripts of the Judge Katanji Brown Jackson hearings and I think it’s fair to say that the smart/stupid syndrome that afflict many white people is even worse when it involves black women, especially when whites, both male and female, have the power to question black women. They won’t even let them answer without interruption.
Not only was MLK extraordinarily brave, he was very smart: “Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.”
And that’s precisely the point. It was clearly to be seen in the questions, and the very way the Republican senators asked those questions during the hearings. If it was apparent to some before, it was crystal clear during the hearings. Yes, there’s a marked difference between Just Plain Stupid and deeply rooted, conscientious stupid, Long Stupid.
But let’s take a short detour for the moment. I have a feeling some of you are asking yourselves an important question. We’re all pretty much aware that there are still serious doubts about when and where and how COVID began: a bat cave in rural China or, a popular wet market selling live animals in Wuhan, a leak from one of the Wuhan research labs?
So, too, many wonder where, when, and how Long Stupid emerged. Let me be absolutely clear: while there is rampant speculation and several different theories out there, there is as yet no definitive proof as to where exactly was Ground Zero.
Several researchers point to the Koch Brothers and the Mercer Family, two constellations of monstrously wealthy ultra-conservatives who bankrolled Citizens United and a bundle of right wing initiatives. Some have narrowed the location to Trump Tower, beginning when Rebekah Mercer and her father Robert Mercer sent two associates of theirs, David Bossie of Citizens United and Steve Bannon of their Breitbart News, to Donald Trump to see if he would run for President in 2012. And while it didn’t happen then, it did happen in 2016, and changed America forever.
As Matea Gold, wrote for The Washington Post in 2016: “Galvanized in part by the Republicans’ 2012 White House loss, the middle daughter of billionaire hedge fund magnate Robert Mercer has rattled the status quo by directing her family’s resources into an array of investments on the right. In the past six years, the Mercers have poured tens of millions into Republican super PACs, Washington think tanks, state policy shops, a film-production company, a data analytics operation and one of the country’s most provocative online conservative news outlets.
“This year, Rebekah Mercer has emerged as a heavyweight presidential player, leading a super PAC financed by her father that was the biggest outside benefactor of Sen. Ted Cruz (Tex.) during the Republican primaries. After Donald Trump clinched the nomination, the Mercers rallied to his side.”
The campaign for the Republican nomination began the slow destruction of the usual way of doing American politics, which while never quite noble, nonetheless mostly remained within the bounds of reasonable behavior. Some in the stupidity research community believe you can find in the 2016 Republican campaign early indications of the extra-strength stupidity variant now predominant in the body politic.
For example, it used to be that the American people, and especially the press, were tough on the misbehavior of the candidates: some vices were even considered disqualifying. Gary Hart got caught cheating. John Edwards got caught cheating. While they tried to fudge the truth about their indiscretions, popular disapproval caught up with them. Republican Senator Robert Packwood of Oregon had to resign in 1995, after 29 women charged him with sexual harassment, abuse, and assault. Even Thomas Eagleton’s admission he had been treated for depression ended his campaign.
But in June of 2015, as he descended the escalator of Trump Tower to officially declare his campaign, Donald Trump made plain he wasn’t going to be restrained by the shackles of good sense, truth-telling, or old-fashioned politeness. Or, it quickly became clear, what he believed was a nonsensical need to play fair: “Our country is in serious trouble. We don’t have victories anymore. We used to have victories, but we don’t have them. When was the last time anybody saw us beating, let’s say, China in a trade deal? They kill us. I beat China all the time. All the time … When do we beat Mexico at the border? They’re laughing at us, at our stupidity. And now they are beating us economically. They are not our friend, believe me. But they’re killing us economically.
“The U.S. has become a dumping ground for everybody else’s problems … When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. They’re not sending you. They’re not sending you. They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.”
The fact that almost none of that made sense, or even vaguely resembled reality, seemed not to matter. But “they’re not you” resonated. And more and more people rushed to see and hear Trump. It seemed not to register that several of Trump’s resort properties relied on illegal immigrants using phony Social Security cards to make the beds and staff the kitchens and dining rooms.
Much like COVID, the stupidity let loose by the Trump campaign spread far more quickly than most observers would have imagined. Some scholarly research studies point to Donald Trump’s appearance at the Iowa Family Leadership Summit as a turning point. Moderator Fred Luntz referred to Republican Senator John McCain as a war hero. He had, after all, been tortured in North Vietnam, and when the North Vietnamese discovered his dad was an admiral and offered to release him, John McCain refused to abandon his men. But Trump told the crowd: “I don’t like losers … He’s not a war hero … He’s a war hero because he was captured. I like people that weren’t captured.”
Few seemed to remember or care that Fred Trump, his multi-millionaire slumlord father, traded free rent for a chiropractor’s letter to Donald’s draft board, claiming that bone spurs made it impossible for Donald to serve in Vietnam. When asked, Donald couldn’t remember which foot it was, but these imaginary bone spurs never kept him from playing golf for hours on end.
Donald Trump continued his criticism of McCain, never offering any analysis, merely doubling down on the nastiness: McCain was a “dummy;” “graduated last in his class;” “should be defeated in the primaries;” was “doing a lousy job in taking care of our Vets;” had “let us down;” and “has failed miserably.”
As for the other Republican candidates for President in 2016, Trump insulted and ridiculed them all. Rick Perry, the former Governor of Texas, “failed at the border” and “ought to be forced to take an I.Q. test.” Jeb Bush, former Governor of Florida, not only “will never secure the border” but “will NEVER make America Great Again.” As for Mitt Romney, former Governor of Massachusetts, “why would anybody listen to @MittRomney? … He lost an election that should have easily been won.” John Sununu, former Governor of New Hampshire, “couldn’t get elected dog catcher.” “Truly weird” Rand Paul, the Republican Senator from Kentucky, “reminds me of a spoiled brat without a properly functioning brain.” Of Carly Fiorina, the former head of Hewlett-Packard, he said: “If you listen to Carly Fiorina for more than ten minutes straight, you develop a massive headache”
Republican Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, he said, had the “worst voting record in Senate,” was “just another all talk, no action, politician” and “truly doesn’t have a clue.” He was “weak on illegal immigration” and “will allow anyone into the country.”
“Lyin” Senator Ted Cruz of Texas was treated to some of Trump’s most vicious abuse. Trump went after the candidate’s family, faith, and heritage: “His father was with Lee Harvey Oswald prior to Oswald being, you know, shot. I mean the whole thing is ridiculous. What is this? Right? Prior to his being shot. And nobody even brings it up.” Then “To the best of my knowledge, not too many evangelicals come out of Cuba, OK? Just remember that, OK? Just remember.”
ABC News reported: “For the second night in a row, Donald Trump took to Twitter to target the wife of his fiercest rival in the GOP presidential race, Sen. Ted Cruz. On Wednesday night, Trump retweeted a post showing a side by side image of Heidi Cruz and Trump’s wife, Melania:”
As for “failed presidential candidate” Senator Lindsey Graham, who had “no honor,” Trump said: “I ran him out of the race like a little boy” and “in the end he had no support.”
The attacks intensified and it became pretty apparent that stupidity was jumping from Republican to Republican. No crass remark, no crude insult diminished Trump’s popularity. Then came the release of remarks he made in 2005 on the set of “Days of Our Lives”:
“He is talking with Billy Bush, an American radio and TV host. They are later joined by Arianne Zucker, an actress.
Trump: I moved on her, actually. You know, she was down on Palm Beach. I moved on her, and I failed. I’ll admit it.
Unknown: Whoa.
Trump: I did try and f*** her. She was married.
Unknown: That’s huge news there.
Trump: … She wanted to get some furniture. I said, ‘I’ll show you where they have some nice furniture.’ I took her out furniture I moved on her like a b****. But I couldn’t get there. And she was married. Then all of a sudden I see her, she’s now got the big phony t*** and everything. She’s totally changed her look.
Billy Bush: Sheesh, your girl’s hot as s***. In the purple.
Trump: Whoa! Whoa!
Bush: Yes! The Donald has scored. Whoa, my man!”
Trump: “I’m automatically attracted to beautiful — I just start kissing them. It’s like a magnet. Just kiss. I don’t even wait. And when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything … Grab them by the p****. You can do anything,”
Ultimately, Donald managed a clearly insincere apology and that was that: “Anyone who knows me knows these words don’t reflect who I am. I said it, I was wrong and I apologize.”
Ashley Killough of CNN reported on October 17, 2016 that Ralph Reed, chairman of the Faith and Freedom Coalition and head of Trump’s religious advisory board, wasn’t really concerned about Trump’s comments:
“I’ve listened to the tape. My view is that people of faith are voting for president on issues like who will defend and protect unborn life, defund Planned Parenthood, grow the economy and create jobs, oppose the Iran nuclear deal … I think a 10-year-old tape of a private conversation with a TV talk show host ranks pretty low on their hierarchy of their concerns.
“‘Everybody falls short of a standard of perfection but Donald Trump’s been married to Melania for 10,11, 12 years now … And he has a great family and has a tremendous relationship with his children. I think it’s already baked into the cake for most voters that Donald Trump is not a saint and Hillary Clinton is corrupt and not trustworthy,’ Reed said.”
And with that, the current notions of the moral life and traditional family values were expanded to include Donald Trump’s immorality and infidelity. Later, when it emerged that Trump had slept with porn star Stormy Daniels just four months after Melania gave birth, it scarcely mattered. Trump and stupidity prevailed. The times had clearly changed; the virus had shattered the notion that some things couldn’t be said out loud. Or that there were consequences to be suffered. Either Trump was ahead of the times or he had changed the times. Either way, he had been right: “You can do anything.”
A very recent study of the United Kingdom’s COVID policy makes the point that recognizing the existence of a dangerous virus and immediately taking steps to counter it can make an extraordinary difference. And failure to do so has great consequence: “Introducing measures one week earlier would have reduced by 74% the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in England by 1 June, resulting in approximately 21,000 fewer hospital deaths and 34,000 fewer total deaths; the required time spent in full lockdown could also have been halved, from 69 to 35 days. Acting two weeks earlier would have reduced cases by 93%, resulting in between 26,000 and 43,000 fewer deaths.”
So, too, it would have made a critical difference if we fully appreciated the virulence of this new stupid virus. Instead, Donald Trump held massive rallies. Large audience began to chant exceedingly stupid slogans in unison: “Lock Her Up!” and “Build The Wall!” Despite his clear symptoms, and growing ability to infect others, Donald Trump continued to hold debates in closed indoor spaces crammed next to other candidates. Larger and larger rallies. More and more Americans were purchasing and wearing Trump MAGA hats. As if a serial abuser and someone who had bankrupted numerous businesses could ever Make America Great Again.
Now I’m clearly not a Board-certified expert in Long Stupid, but with the benefit of hindsight, it appears to me that as the virus slowly made its way from one Republican candidate to another, they grew increasingly more stupid. So much so that they began to forget how utterly and relentlessly Trump had humiliated them.
Soon, New Hampshire Public Radio reported a significant change of heart: “Back in January, former New Hampshire governor John H. Sununu warned voters against ‘drinking the Trump Kool-Aid.’ On Tuesday, Sununu poured himself a glass and took a big sip.
“After months of attacking Republican Presidential nominee Donald Trump as ‘dumb,’ ‘a loser’ and ‘a political chameleon,’ Sununu endorsed Trump Tuesday. In a release from the Trump campaign, Sununu called the GOP nominee ‘the only candidate in this race who can bring bold change to Washington.’ It was quite a shift for Sununu, who spent much of the past year belittling Trump’s business record, insulting his intelligence and dismissing his character.”
And then another. There was Senator Lindsey Graham, who had offered this searing indictment of Donald Trump: “I want to talk to the Trump supporters for a minute. I don’t know who you are. I don’t know what you like about this. I think what you like is he appears to be strong, when the rest of us are weak. He’s a very successful businessman and he’s going to make everything great. He’s going to take all the problems of the world and put them in a box and make your life better. That’s what he’s selling. Here’s what you’re buying: He’s a race-baiting, xenophobic, religious bigot. He doesn’t represent my party. He doesn’t represent the values that the men and women that wear the uniform are fighting for. I’ve been in the Air Force for 33 years — I retired this June. He’s the ISIL man of the year, by the way.
“Sen. Graham finished by saying that if viewers wanted to ‘Make America Great again, tell Donald Trump to go to hell!’”
But, but, but. He, too, had succumbed. It was as if Graham had never said those things. “After a March 2017 meeting with Trump, Graham became a staunch ally of his, often issuing public statements in his defense.
Graham told CNN he spoke with Trump and they had “a good conversation.”
“I must say he reached out, number one,” Graham said. “And I was glad to talk to him.”
“And Saturday, Graham reportedly urged donors at a private GOP fundraiser in Florida to unite behind the real estate mogul and former ‘Celebrity Apprentice’ star to keep the Republican Party intact — and Hillary Clinton away from the White House.
“So what made him change his tone? Graham, a ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, told CNN on Friday that Trump ‘asked really good questions’ during their conversation.
His reversal caught both parties by surprise and sparked media speculation. As BuzzFeed News explained: “The South Carolina Republican used to be the Democrats’ go-to guy when they needed help with a deal. But now ‘it’s like the guy I knew got kidnapped and his twin brother showed up,’ said one Democratic senator.”
After trashing Trump during the campaign, “now Graham warns it is not Trump but Republicans abandoning Trump’s border wall that poses the existential threat to the party. ‘If we undercut the president, that’s the end of his presidency and the end of our party,’ he said this month.”
The virus had made its way through almost all the Republican contenders. According to CNN: “Ted Cruz endorsed Donald Trump for the presidency Friday afternoon, a stunning turn of events after a contentious primary filled with nasty personal attacks and a dramatic snub at the Republican National Convention.
“‘After many months of careful consideration, of prayer and searching my own conscience, I have decided that on Election Day, I will vote for the Republican nominee, Donald Trump. I’ve made this decision for two reasons. First, last year, I promised to support the Republican nominee. And I intend to keep my word. Second, even though I have had areas of significant disagreement with our nominee, by any measure Hillary Clinton is wholly unacceptable …’ Cruz wrote in a Facebook post.”
And while I am relatively new to the study of Stupid, there are those who have dedicated decades to its rigorous examination. In 1976, one of the most influential scholars, economist Carlo M. Cipolla offered “Le leggi fondamentali della stupidità umana,” what English speakers have come to know as “The Basic Laws of Human Stupidity.”
Here are his five laws:
- Always and inevitably, everyone underestimates the number of stupid individuals in circulation.
- The probability that a certain person (will) be stupid is independent of any other characteristic of that person.
- A stupid person is a person who causes losses to another person or to a group of persons while himself deriving no gain and even possibly incurring losses.
- Non-stupid people always underestimate the damaging power of stupid individuals. In particular, non-stupid people constantly forget that at all times and places, and under any circumstances, to deal and/or associate with stupid people always turns out to be a costly mistake.
- A stupid person is the most dangerous type of person.
You can count me as one who has failed to fully appreciate Stupid Law Number One. I was taken by surprise. I never imagined a candidate for President could get away with calling a man most Americans regarded as a war hero “a loser,” calling Mexican immigrants seeking asylum and a better life “rapists” and “criminals,” and bragging that he felt entitled to sexually assault women. But clearly a great number of stupid Americans felt otherwise.
Yes, “independent of any other characteristic,” there were millions who were stupid. And it soon became apparent that there was a larger cost — “losses to another person or to a group of persons” — to all those who had allowed themselves to endure humiliation and surrendered to bullying, only to grasp onto a sliver of power. Becoming cabinet officials, Rick Perry, Attorney General Jeff Sessions, General Mattis, and Rex Tillerson became complicit in the growing lack of seriousness and morality. As for the President himself, he derived little gain except the admiration of fools and supplicants, and became the first President to be impeached twice.
Yes, number 4 hurts a lot. Because non-stupid people throughout the land clearly underestimated the damaging power of Donald Trump. How many hundreds of thousands fell ill and died, how many families were ripped apart, while the COVID Coalition of the Stupid pretended the virus wasn’t lethal. Delayed providing front-line health care providers the protective gear they needed. Argued that testing inconveniently revealed the virus was spreading. Disparaged mask-wearing. Touted ivermectin.
Most recently, Donald Trump spread massive uncertainty about the safety and accuracy of our elections. Perpetuating a fraud that his non-existent victory was stolen from him. Instigating his supposed back-the-blue, law and order loving supporters to storm the Capitol, attempt to hang his Republican vice-president and bash policemen and women. Yes, indeed, associating with stupid people always turns out to be a costly mistake.
Finally, we must never forget Rule 5. And while vain, self-absorbed, and insensitive people can be particularly annoying, nothing compares to the capacity of a stupid person to cause immense suffering.
If you’ve been following the desire of many major politicians, corporate leaders, even some public health officials to declare that we have moved beyond the worst aspects of the COVID pandemic, you won’t be surprised to see a similar pattern when it comes to turning the page on our other virus. We’re told the insurrection ultimately failed and there are now some Republicans who seemingly have had enough of Donald Trump.
But they have failed to account for the debilitating effects of Long Stupid to adapt and find new variants.
Look back to the historic appearance of Judge Katanji Brown Jackson before the Senate Judiciary Committee. It was just months after one of the great gatherings of the stupid at the Capitol, when you might assume that our Republican Senators would be on their best behavior, make their best effort to appear reasonable and rational, polite even.
But, no, the severe effects of Long Stupid immediately surfaced. Lindsey Graham began by contrasting the treatment of Justice Kavanaugh by the Democrats with how Republicans would bring respect to these hearings. They wouldn’t question her on “where you go to church, what kind of groups you’re in in church, how you decide to raise your kids, what you believe in, how you believe in God.”
But clearly Graham had underestimated the ravages of Long Stupid, and how profoundly it affects the memory. And as the UK Independent notes, the very first chance Senator Graham had to question Judge Jackson, not only did he manage to violate Article VI, Clause 3 of the U.S. Constitution, which states that “no religious test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States” but he made himself a liar by asking “What faith are you, by the way?”
Unaware that she has several family members in law enforcement, and was endorsed by both the International Association of Chiefs of Police and a national organization of crime survivors, Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas seemed determined to trap her into saying something that would reveal a bias against police. “Does the United States need more police or fewer police?” he asked.
Some sufferers of Long Stupid have reported bouts of mental fog and lingering confusion. Judge Jackson reminded Cotton that under our system of the separation of powers, police staffing issues were not the concern of our federal judges: “Senator, the determination about whether there should be more or fewer police is a policy decision by another branch of government.” Probably concerned with his deteriorating mental state, she didn’t want to remind him that that was actually his job. That Senator Cotton could vote to increase federal funding for local police departments.
But once more he seemed not to understand that she was being nominated for the Supreme Court, and not as a local sheriff: “Do you think we should catch and imprison more murderers or fewer murderers?” She kindly and patiently explained to Senator Cotton, “it’s very important that people be held accountable for their crimes.”
Long Stupid, it became clear, plays no favorites, and affects women as well as men. Tennessee Senator Marsha Blackman tried very hard to connect Judge Jackson to the raging controversy over gender in America, stretching the truth to the breaking point. Because the Judge serves as a board member of the Washington D.C. private Georgetown Day School (GDS), Blackburn imagined she must somehow be responsible for what they teach. Then Blackburn claimed that GDS teaches kindergarteners that they can choose their gender. At which point she asked Judge Jackson if she too believes schools should teach kids they can choose their gender. When Jackson responded by saying that as a board member she had no control over what was taught, Blackburn interjected again: “I’m asking do you agree that schools should teach children that they can choose their gender?”
Clearly, Long Stupid has exacerbated a pre-existing condition, a pre-disposition in Blackburn, an obsession perhaps that there are those few who’ve been born males who may feel more comfortable as female, and that with treatment they will endanger the Republic. And especially the advances made by all women over the last century and more: “Just last week an entire generation of young girls watched as our tax-funded institutions permitted a biological male to compete and beat a biological woman in the NCAA swimming championship. What message do you think this sends to girls who seek to compete and win in sports at the highest levels?”
Judge Jackson responded as best she could: “Senator I’m not sure what message that sends – if you’re asking me about the legal issues related to it those are topics that are being hotly discussed, as you say, and could come to the court …
To Senator Blackburn though the message was clear: “I think it tells our girls that their voices don’t matter. I think it tells them that they’re second-class citizens.”
I think it is appropriate to wonder whether the entire Republican minority on the Senate Judiciary Committee suffer from severe Long Stupid.
If you remain unconvinced, I offer the performance of Senator Ted Cruz. As Dana Milbank wrote in The Washington Post, he too seemed almost pathologically focused on what was happening at Georgetown Day School. “‘If you look at the Georgetown Day School’s curriculum, it is filled and to overflowing with critical race theory,’ Cruz alleged, holding up books he said the school has on reading lists, including ‘Stamped (for Kids): Racism, Antiracism and You,’ by Ibram X. Kendi and Jason Reynolds. ‘It is an astonishing book,’ charged Cruz … ‘On Page 33, it asks the question, “Can we send White people back to Europe?” … Are you comfortable with these ideas being taught to children as young as 4?”
Judge Jackson made a point of affirming her belief that we need to respect all races, but as it turns out, Long Stupid had blinded Senator Cruz to the ever-present danger of hypocrisy. Milbank explains: “Georgetown Day School, in the nation’s capital, does indeed take a strong ‘anti-racism’ approach. So does St. John’s School, the private school in Houston where, as the New Republic’s Timothy Noah noted, Cruz sends his daughters.
“As the headmaster and chair of the board of trustees at St. John’s put it in 2020: ‘Black lives matter. … St. John’s, as an institution, must be anti-racist and eliminate racism of any type — including institutional racism’ … A St. John’s class called “Issues of Justice and Equity in the Twenty-First Century” is labeled a “Critical Race Training Course” by the right-wing Legal Insurrection Foundation.
“And there in the St. John’s library catalog is — wait for it — Kendi’s ‘Stamped (for Kids),’ the very book Cruz demanded Jackson account for at Georgetown Day School. Cruz’s office didn’t respond to a request for comment.”
At the end of the day, Long Stupid is a condition that, in one way or another, will affect us all. Just think of how much progress we’ve lost over the past few years as the stupid have made it okay to practice racism, sexism and prejudice against gay people, lesbians, bisexuals and those who are transgendered. It has become okay to refuse to allow people to distribute water to folks waiting in line to vote. It is now somehow suspicious to vote by mail, or drop off your ballot in a locked drop box.
Stupid. And more Stupid.
“Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I’m not sure about the universe.”—Albert Einstein
You’ve been warned. Be careful out there. Protect yourself. Protect others.
