Josh Marshall at Talking Points Memo had a nice summary this week touching on the science of human behavior. There are two themes therein, the first on how a guilty person behaves, and a more subtle point on how most of us usual, normal people harbor resistance of a sort from coming to the obvious conclusion when that conclusion is unsettling and/or lies far outside the usual norms:
[T]he President has used every power at his disposal to stop investigations into what happened. He tried to end the investigation into Michael Flynn. He demanded loyalty and protection from the head of the FBI. He fired the head of the FBI because of the Russia probe. He tried to fire Robert Mueller. He tried to bully Jeff Sessions into resigning ... He has been at more or less constant war with the FBI and the Intelligence Community. He openly dangles pardons to thwart the investigation.
Trump is guilty. Why there’s such resistance to this reality is an interesting question. My own best guess is that it is too disquieting a reality to grapple with.
As long as we’re on the subject, it’s become quite the sport to speculate on just what Trump is afraid will come to light. Let’s stop and consider the possibility that it’s not a single item, but everything, including actions we haven’t even imagined yet. Sexual escapades, money laundering, bank fraud, past corruption in every corner and ongoing corruption of the vilest sort, and more. Because that might help explain why Trump is so quick to do and say anything to avoid the consequences.
The opioid crisis in the US has been big news in recent years, drawing public attention to problems surrounding how we use and abuse pain-killers. Now the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is reminding veterinarians of a concerning trend among pet owners, who are taking opioids prescribed for their poor companion.
There, on the surface of the enigmatic Red Planet, in one of the few regions not obscured by a dust storm, was none other than the wide-eyed Beaker - the shy and ill-fated assistant of Dr Bunsen Honeydew from The Muppet Show.