T&O needs a good political thread

I was trying to find something that explains Trump. Some kind of deeper understanding of his motivations and influences, his rationale, the way he processes information and makes decisions. 

When I read the equivalent books about Obama, they shed a lot of light on things that were not always apparent in his administration, but you could sometimes see in his decisions. He was almost cripplingly conflict averse. He cared so much about his image as an intelligent bipartisan leader that he pretty much abandoned most of the ideological platform that got him elected in the first place. 

You pick up these little quirks about the presidents themselves from books written about their presidencies, especially when the writer can interview the subject and their inner circle. W Bush valued decisiveness, even when it morphed into stubbornness. Clinton fetishized compromise. HW Bush felt alienated. Reagan was a chronic delegator. Carter was a micro-manager and meddled in his cabinet. 

As I read through the second Woodward book, I'm left with the truth I was looking for in the other books all along: There is nothing deeper. There is no complexity. There is no deeper ideology or belief system or quirk to be found. Trump is a giant oafish dumbass. That's all there is. 

He was born into a wealthy family and has stumbled upwards his entire life. He's literally never been told no. His father semi-legally gave him hundreds of millions of dollars at a young age. He almost assuredly used money and someone taking standardized tests for him to get into Wharton considering his awful educational record up to that point. He was given fake property development jobs by his father and somehow failed, consistently, at nearly everything he ever tried. His own ventures consistently fail and go bankrupt. He has never had to face any consequence for any of these failures and bankruptcies because the banks realize they'll never be paid back if he does, so he keeps getting loans. 

The consistencies pile up in every book -- meaning, either Bob Woodward, John Bolton, Mary Trump and Michael Wolff all got together and coordinated, or these are likely true: Trump has almost no capacity for intelligent thought. His perspective of the world mostly comes from watching upwards of five hours of Fox News and OANN each day. He does not read and might be semi-illiterate. His staffers have to highlight his own name in briefing packets for him to give the information even the slightest bit of attention. He does not pay attention during meetings, instead going around the room and poking each member of whatever meeting it happens to be into complimenting him. He is a chronic liar. He has zero understanding of basic civics and government operation. 

About 70% of Woodward's new book is a near-transcript of his interviews with Trump. It's chilling, not because of anything evil Trump is saying, but because it finally begins setting in -- he's just a dumbass. Every time Woodward asks Trump about anything involving planning, or motivation, or deeper thought, Trump's response is either 1) A campaign slogan non-sequitur, 2) Something he heard on television, or 3) A lie. 

Oh I'm aware. If climate change wasn't enough reason for me to move, the unattainable housing prices will.

Arizona passed legal weed too, wish that happened when I used to partake haha.

Happy to see Oregon is treating addiction as a health issue, not a criminal issue.