Sunday, December 10, 2017

From evil to reluctant acknowledgement of competence

Scott Adams, who, in 2015, predicted that there was a 98% chance of Donald Trump winning the nomination and the election, also, after the victory, predicted that there would be three stages to Trump's critics' response to that victory. Regrettably, I cannot put my hands on that forecast but it was something like:
Trump will be accused of being evil.

Trump will be accused of being insane and incompetent.

Trump will be accused of being competent but wrong.
Adam's version was much more pithy.

Adam's predicted that by December 2017, the left would pivot to the third condition, acknowledging that Trump was effective but doing things which they ideologically opposed.

As if on cue, Sadly, Trump Is Winning by Earl Ofari Hutchinson. My first thought was that this was likely a link to a parody or spoof. My second thought was that this was just an editorial error. It is in Huffington Post so that might still be the case. On the other hand, Earl Ofari Hutchinson is apparently a real person and his Wikipedia entry does seem to indicate he is a legitimate person of the left.

So it does seem as if Adam's forecast has come true. The left has begun the transition from visceral vilification to more pragmatic recognition that their opponent is a real person with real accomplishments. They can continue howling at the moon or they can reluctantly engage. Acknowledgement of effectiveness of one's opponent is the first step down that road. It might be a long road, though.

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