Donald Trump, the bewildering black swan

They shot at the king, but they didn't kill him. And because they didn't destroy him, they only made him stronger. If, a year from now, the economy is robust, Trump will be re-elected in an historic landslide. His enemies have played right into his hands. This is all because of Trump Derangement Syndrome (TDS), an especially virulent form of the psychiatric disorder known as cognitive dissonance. If you know, for absolutely certain — as an article of faith — that something is true, and evidence in contradiction of this truth emerges, the psychic toll can be severe. Experts say it stems from the use of degenerate meta-probability.

So it is with Donald Trump and his critics. At one time, I was one of those critics myself, and I suffered severely when he won the Republican nomination. I knew that Donald Trump could never win a presidential election for all kinds of reasons. Even though his opponent was one of the worst political candidates in our history, I knew he still couldn't win. What kind of a guy is associated with Trump University, for God's sake? All the smart people, liberal and conservative, agreed, from National Review to the Wall Street Journal, from the New York Times to the Washington Post. And then he won. What happened? How was this possible? How could we explain to our friends, colleagues, and families that we were wrong? Hillary suffered a virtual nervous breakdown and concocted the Russia collusion theory. The media flocked to this fantasy, and the Mueller fiasco began. After two years, this long national nightmare is over. As it turns out, Donald Trump is an authentic political genius, unique, one of a kind, never to be seen again, a political phenomenon. Who knew? God bless America, and God bless President Trump. Fritz Pettyjohn blogs at ReaganProject.com.