No President has ever gone so far as Donald Trump in failing to distinguish appearance from reality. To all appearances, Trump is governed by what he sees on Fox News and doesn't accept anything as real until he sees it on TV.
He puts me in mind of a Doonesbury cartoon savaging Jerry Brown as void of all substance. Alas, I do not know how to post it, but the dialog is as follows:
Reporter: Governor Brown, why will you only announce a "context" for your candidacy?
Brown: This is an era of limitations. I don't think people want formal declarations anymore.
Reporter: Will that apply to your program as well?
Brown: In the electronic global village, programs are unimportant. They're just words. Appearances are the new reality
Reporter: Then it's true your idea of a social worker is a T.V. repairman.
Brown: I don't think that question rises to the level of whatever network you front for.
Reporter: Governor, if we turned off the cameras would you still exist?
Brown: I don't want to speculate on that.Donald Trump, by contrast, has no need to speculate. He appears fully convinced that if the cameras were turned off, he would no longer exist. He behaves accordingly. It is, perhaps, the best explanation for his behavior.
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