George Saunders

They fictionalize the fact that he was quote unquote brandishing a gun.

That's panic, you know, that's panic.

But it's also autopilot.

Because a person not on autopilot would watch the damn video, you know, and would adjust their viewpoint accordingly.

That's what intelligent people do.

100%.

They do not expect me to believe it.

Right.

Well, you know what it's like?

It's like if you went into a really nice restaurant and somebody, the waiter brought you three turds on a tray and put it down.

Enjoy it.

there's a kind of a disbelief that he just did that.

If you don't stand up and say, get these turds out of here, you know, bring me my lasagna, then he's won.

And if he keeps bringing the turds and you don't call him on it, then you erode.

Your belief in truth

erodes and you start to shrink and pretty soon they're all bets are off so i think that's where um and now what what amazes me is that they want that and they know how to do it that's the part that if i was going to write a book about this time i would try i would really want to understand because as you said i don't think anyone gets up in the morning goes yeah time to be evil i don't think i mean there are probably some so shit passed and so on

But mostly, I think J.D.

Vance wakes up in the morning and he feels like a good Catholic.

And that's fascinating to me.

I don't quite— Despite being repeatedly rebuked by popes?