Donald’s razor

I believe Josh Marshall is responsible for the dictum that, when considering any question involving Donald Trump, the stupidest possible answer is invariably correct.

A lot of people are saying that Trump’s constant violation of court orders in regard to his current and pending indictments is some sort of grand strategy.

That’s foolish, as Anton Chigruh might put it. Trump is behaving this way because

(a) He has no impulse control

(b) He’s pathologically narcissistic, and these prosecutions constitute narcissistic injury

(c) He’s faced very few consequences in his life for breaking legal and social rules; and

(d) He’s really stupid.

I think lots of people who have no trouble believing (a) (b) and (c) still resist (d). I mean they’ll acknowledge that Trump isn’t smart, or book smart, or an intellectual, obviously, but they resist the conclusion that he’s a genuinely dumb person, as in below average intelligence (and have you seen average lately?).

But a great deal about him is explained quite easily if one accepts that he’s pretty stupid, as in “has poor cognitive skills.”

I acknowledge he has a certain feral cunning in certain situations, but so does a rat. And that’s what he is now: an old cornered rat.