Trump Junior praises conspiracy theorists for pattern recognition ability

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Trump Junior praises conspiracy theorists for pattern recognition ability

by Hal Brown

I took the above photo, and the one below, at Little Harbor Beach on Buzzard's Bay in Wareham, MA.

Click above to enlarge

This story was prompted by these Truth Social posts by Donald Trump, Jr. who is turning ever more orange and unhinged as he embraces the lunatic beliefs of his bigly brained blowhard daddy.

Clicking above will enlarge image but will not go to Truth Social

In the Truth Social post series above Junior references "pattern recognition" and lauds conspiracy theorists for having the ability to see nefarious patterns others miss which prove Democratic conspiracies.

I don't know which of Trump's older sons is the bigger idiot. What I do know is that coments like this are a good example of projection:

Junior thinks he is so very smart and throws out the term "pattern recognition" using it in a colloquial way. Actually this is what it means:

Pattern recognition is the ability of machines to identify patterns in data, and then use those patterns to make decisions or predictions. This guide provides an overview of the most important techniques used to recognize patterns and real-world applications. Reference.

The way Junior uses the term was part of the theme of a novel by that name:

"The novel's central theme involves the examination of the human desire to detect patterns or meaning and the risks of finding patterns in meaningless data."

He thinks that believing what we know are his and other fellow residents of Magaland are delusions are the result of the result of the brilliant ability to see patterns others are too dumb to recognize. In fact he and these MAGA delusionists might as well be seeing the patterns they want to see in the clouds. 

Seeing patterns of behavior that actually reveal a not readily discernible truth of a matter is something investigators, whether good journalists or detectives, are adept at. 

Actually seeing patterns that don't prove anything, but rather support a person's delusional beliefs suggest their reality testing is impaired at best and buying into delusions supporting a political agenda, or have a paranoid disorder as a worst case.

I don't know where the majority of those who believe in the ludicrous claims of QAnon fit on some sort of continuum between merely being gullible and having a diagnosable psychiatric disorder. I expect this now or will be the subject of research studies.

One of my dear childhood friends and neighbors (Hi, GWC...) and I still reminisce about how we used to lay on the grass in her yard and loved it when we found patterns in the clouds. We might point and say "that one looks like a bird" or typically "that looks like a face." 

My partner and I  always enjoy looking at the sky whether at home or rides in the beautiful Oregon countryside. Generally we just just appreciate the way the clouds take the bland pallet of a blue sky and turn it into an artistic display. Occasionally a pattern jumps out at us.

We don't think that the pattern has any other meaning than the fortuitous accident of upper atmospheric weather, but then again we're not delusional.

Note: 

Junior still is on Twitter where he posted the same message and had supportive and critical replies, one apparently from Elon Musk.

Clicking these will enlarge them but not go to Twitter.

 

Is is the reply I posted on Twitter:

Now, for you enjoyment, here are some cloud photos I took. Click each one to enlarge it.

Above and below, Buzzard's Bay, Massachusetts

Below, photos taken in Oregon.

Above and below, Portland.

Will he or won't he? Part 3 on Trump testifying before J6 Committee

 Will he or won't he? Part 3 on Trump testifying before J6 Committee

By Hal Brown

Sunday Update: On MSNBC at least, the speculation as to whether he will testify is leaning toward saying he won't.

Not a link

Here are two articles about the possibility Trump will end up testifying before the January 6th Committee:

From The Guardian:

From RAWSTORY:

These articles ask whether  testifying before the January 6th Committee would be wise, and say that his lawyers are cautioning him that it may not be to his advantage to testify only to exact revenge against his enemies.

All of this may amount to nothing but a miniscule Mar-a-Lago hill of beans when it come to influencing Trump.

I still maintain that there's a reasonable chance Trump will end up testifying before the January 6th Committee despite the following reporting:

"Trump also appears to have become more aware about the pitfalls of testifying in investigations, with lawyers warning him about mounting legal issues in criminal inquiries brought by the justice department and a civil lawsuit brought by the New York state attorney’s office."

It is one thing to say that Trump is aware of "the pitfalls of testifying" and quite another to say that's he's convinced that the so-called pitfalls described by lawyers who he probably believes aren't nearly as intelligent as he is ought to be heeded.

Trump is a man who has always been guided by his own grandiose beliefs in his being the smartest person in the room. The "room" as he defines it is the country, hell, the world if not the cosmos. 

Trump is a MAGA moth drawn to the flame of fame.

He knows that if he wants to have the eyes of the nation riveted on him, whether in prime time or during the day, he will push his demand for live coverage of his testimony rather than as in typical testimony given in a deposition prior to or instead of appearing before the full committee live.

I have little doubt that if she's not the top of Trump's most despised list, Nancy Pelosi is in the top three. I assume he watched the last J6 Committee hearing (it was on Fox) so he saw the videos of her during the attack:

If anyone was watching the commentaries about this anywhere but on Fox they heard commentators talking abut how presidential she was. Trump probably thought "how dare she" get so much air time." 

He'd be raging on, in his mind if not out loud, about how he was being cheated out of TV time that was deservedly his. 

I can see him thinking about how foolish the committee was to subpoena him to appear in person. "Perhaps they're bluffing," he might think. "Well, fuck them, I'll call their bluff," he'd think as he basked in his blowhard self-behooved brilliance.

He is well aware that the committee will be hard pressed to deny his acceptance of the subpoena with what will be interpreted by many, if most, in the public as a reasonable request to simply walk into the committee room, be sworn in, and show to the nation that he is cooperating. 

Whether Trump is able to resist this remains to be seen. 

For the reasons described in my two pervious stories (links below and in side column) I wouldn't dismiss the possibility that we won't see him achieve the bragging rights to having been the star of one of the most watched television shows ever broadcast. He might think this would exceed the viewers of the moon landing in 1960 (125-150 million). 

Even if his numbers are much less (and they would be - after all he wouldn't be the first man to walk on the moon) there's a good chance if he was to testify the number of viewers would exceed the 20 million who viewed the first committee hearing and you can bet he would brag bigly about this.

• Part 1 Will he or won't he testify? Don't assume he won't.

• Part 2 Will he or won't he testify? Don't assume he won't...

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