Trump and Abortion

I’ll start by reminding readers that my policy preferences don’t align with Donald Trump’s policies, or with anyone else’s except in some minor cases that are mostly coincidence. In the case of abortion rights, I defer to the better-informed views of women. I like having the right to vote on every issue,…

Read More

Climate Change and Trump

I realize a number of my blog readers don’t think climate change is a problem. Hold that objection until the end. — Let’s say you think climate change is the biggest threat to humanity, and you also think Trump believes climate change to be a hoax perpetrated by the Chinese,…

Read More

How to Hypnotize Bill Maher

In case you missed it, I appeared on Real Time with Bill Maher on Friday and explained that Trump is more Master Persuader than crazy clown. It’s worth watching. If you want to learn more about some of the psychological phenomena I mentioned on the show, I recommend this new book called Impossible to Ignore….

Read More

Using Persuasion to Solve Everything

Persuasion is a learned skill. It involves a well-understood set of science-tested tools. For whatever reason, Donald Trump is bristling with talent for persuasion and Hillary Clinton has none (that I can detect) except for basic political skills and her gender identity. Persuasion is not the only talent you want…

Read More

The Elbonian Zombie Virus

This is a thought experiment. Imagine that the tiny nation of Elbonia suffers a Zombie Virus outbreak. Luckily, the virus does not spread easily, but prolonged personal contact with an infected zombie increases the odds of transmission. Once infected, the Elbonian becomes a zombie killer. As it turns out, most…

Read More

Who’s Afraid of Donald Trump?

For new readers: I have already disavowed Donald Trump for being scary. And by that I mean he scares my fellow citizens, which I find unacceptable.  My policy views don’t line up with any of the candidates’ positions, including Trump’s. I don’t vote and I am not a member of…

Read More

Sleeper Persuasion with a Trigger

The other day I explained to you that Trump was using “stamina” as a linguistic kill shot against Hillary Clinton. The genius of it – persuasion-wise – is that every normal candidate has some low-energy days. Everyone gets hoarse from too much speech-making. Everyone takes bathroom breaks, and other kinds of…

Read More

Dilbert by Jake Tapper?

If you’re wondering why Dilbert looks different today, it’s because I asked CNN anchor and host Jake Tapper to be my guest artist for the week of 5/23/16. I wrote six daily comics for the week and Jake did the art. You can see them on the home page starting with the first one…

Read More

Social Media is the New Government

The founders of the United States designed a system in which voters elected smart people and those smart people ran the country. They called it a republic. Over time, money corrupted the system. Rich people became the real power. The rich controlled the media, and that was enough to control…

Read More

Bumper Sticker Thinking

Perhaps you are familiar with this famous quote: “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” – George Santayana The idea here is that patterns in history repeat. That might be true. Or it might be false. I have no idea. But I’ll tell you one thing…

Read More

Clinton Versus Trump

It looks like we’ll have a Clinton versus Trump contest for the White House.  The last time Trump and Clinton mixed it up hard, Clinton called Trump sexist and Trump responded that she was an enabler for her husband’s womanizing. In summary: – Clinton accused Trump of being anti-woman –…

Read More

Real Donald Trump Quotes about Women

Have you seen the anti-Trump video that features women quoting Donald Trump’s most offensive statements about women?  I just showed it to a woman. She thought it was funny. Apparently nothing that Trump says comes off as offensive to her.  The reason I checked with a woman is because I didn’t trust…

Read More

Donald Trump – Con Man

Donald Trump is a con man. He’s also a fraud, a liar, a snake-oil salesman, and a carnival barker. Clearly he is running a scam on the country.  Trump calls himself a “deal-maker.”  I call Trump a Master Persuader. It’s all the same thing. Trump says and does whatever he…

Read More

The Trump Riots That are Mostly My Fault

I would like to begin this post by disavowing Scott Adams. It seems I am mostly to blame for the recent scuffles at Trump rallies. I apologize for this and for the nuclear annihilation that is likely ahead of us after Trump wins the presidency in a landslide. The short…

Read More