Quote of the day

In what I could have labeled as today’s splendid yet understated observation, Peter Baker of the New York Times pointed out that:

In foreign policy, the relationship between what presidential candidates say on the campaign trail and what they do once elected can be tenuous.

We also should include what the candidates say about their domestic, fiscal, budgetary and other policies. Generally considered, political candidates are untrustworthy individuals. They are neither truthful nor honorable. They present themselves to the demos but typically act as agents of special and powerful interests. Supporting them requires a strong capacity for managing cognitive dissonance and a stubborn insensitivity to the presence and consequences of the Dunning-Kruger Effect and Status Quo Bias. Americans believe themselves to be more competent than they actually are when making political judgments. If they actually were competent political beings and if they were as free as they believe themselves to be, would they United States have the political system it has? Would it be an instance of an inverted totalitarian regime?