My Gut Feeling

On Tuesday, Donald Trump gave an interview to The Washington Post—a source of “real news,” I assume.  He castigated the Federal Reserve Chairman,  “Jay” Powell, whom he appointed.  “I’m doing deals, and I’m not being accommodated  by the Fed,” he complained, “They’re making a mistake because I have a gut, and my gut tells me more sometimes than anybody else’s brain can ever tell me.” 

Note:  The Federal Reserve System, by law,  is not supposed to accommodate the whims of the President of the United States.  “The Fed” is the central banking system of the United States.   It was created by Congress in 1913 after a series of financial panics.

Trump thinks his gut is smarter than anybody else’s brain and his brain (intelligence) is smarter than all the scientists who say that man-made climate change is a reality.

“One of the problems that a lot of people like myself, we have very high levels of intelligence but we’re not necessarily such believers,” Trump said in the interview.  “You look at our air and our water, and it’s right now at a record clean.”  He went on to say, “As to whether or not it’s man-made and whether or not the effects that you’re talking about are there, I don’t see it.”

What planet does Mr. Trump live on?  The world is on the verge of a water crisis.  Hundreds of cities and towns in the United States are suffering severe water shortages, either because available water is not safe to drink or because there is not enough water.  The U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence  now ranks water scarcity as a major threat to our national security alongside terrorism.  Flint, Michigan, where the water supply has been rendered undrinkable is just a preview of what is to come.  The fires in California threaten air quality.  The red tide in Florida is killing marine life.  This  is not Fake News!  Surely with such a brilliant gut and a “very high level of intelligence” Donald Trump should be able to see this!  Why, even the Office of the Director of National Intelligence sees it.

But then, Mr. Trump’s gut is so much smarter, his intellect so much higher, that he doesn’t believe our national intelligence agencies.  He disputes the CIA’s assessment about the murder of journalist Khashoggi by Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman.  “Maybe he did and maybe he didn’t.  But he denies it.  And people around him deny it.  And the CIA did not say affirmatively he did it, either, by the way.  I’m not saying that they’re saying he didn’t do it, but they didn’t say it affirmatively.” 

What does your gut tell you?  My gut feeling is that I don’t trust the Trump gut any more than I trust my own.  

What do you see?