A Rush to Perspective

"Perspective" is what we develop when, with the benefit of time, we're able to frame something more aptly than is possible from within the thick of it. As his support collapses and oversight looms, why wait years? It's never too early to seek perspective. Here's mine: He’s a 4. Maybe a 4-1/2. If we ever had a 3 (Putin, Erdogan, Orban, roughly), we’d feel as warmly nostalgic for Trump as dems now feel toward GWB. (Remember how just after 9/11 he visited a mosque to support our Muslim neighbors? Yeah, that guy!) If we ever had a 2 (Kim, Saddam, Stalin, Mussolini), 2026 would seem like paradise lost. If we ever had a 1 (Pol Pot, Hitler, Amin), we’d be too busy staying safe and finding food to even make comparisons. Am I minimizing his horribleness? Am I advocating for complacency? God, no. We've developed a conviction that everything bad is The Worst. This makes it very hard to perceive—much less aptly handle—worsening. And it leads to a dizzy, bitterly unpleasant society that's even…