The tendency to distinguish virtual reality and reality may help to indicate that one thing is TV and the other not. But existence is a unity of everything there is and the only real variable is us. This means that most of the distinctions we make are questionable.

We live in a world that is at bottom triadic. It is not a box or a straight line. It has a third side which can always be replaced. A triadic world thinks in three stages, reality then ethics then aesthetics. Aesthetics is all we do and all we say.

Merit

In a world that is triadic merit consists in rising in the only hierarchy that exists.

It is the hierarchy that has death and absolute evil at the bottom a whole mess of good values as you rise up. At the top, we find silence. This is the perception of good that conquers all evil. The meritorious words include love, freedom, and justice.

There are others including beauty and truth, tolerance, helpfulness, and democracy.

Trump

Donald trump can be seen in two ways. He can be seen as evil and a candidate for immediate expulsion. That is how a majority of Americans seem to see him. Whatever credit they might lavish on him, they sense he is a predator with considerable patience who is out to grow in wealth, winning, and his enemies be damned. They hope day after day that the Mueller investigation will come up with the goods needed to send Trump back to wherever he says he is from.

The minority view of Trump is not entirely made up of the Binary and biased. There are some who feel that the US has been set in a groove that it must be jolted out of. They see Trump as the jolt. The fact that he may be evil is an asset. He will not be spooked by the power elites and established orders. Life is more complex than Trump's enemies see.

There are at least some in the Trump camp who are happy when he discomfits the New York Times and insults recognized names past and present.They think there are reasons most cannot see.

The facts

The facts are in Jack Webb territory. We don't yet know them. And we cannot construct a fair and meaningful narrative of Trump until we know three things.

First, we need to know what Mueller has. Is it enough to get rid of Trump?

Second. we need to give Trump at least the credit we would give to any patient predator. We might be repelled but no one can say he lacks the skills and energy. Trump's ace in the hole has always been SCOTUS. And now he has it as firmly as a Queens kid has a yo-yo. This is almost a blank check that he could sign with the word Dictator and get cash.

If you want to see Trump as virtual reality, be my guest. I am waiting for Mueller.
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