Faulty reasoning signals

• Confirmation Bias - 2.9% (12 hits)
• Anchoring Bias - 0%
• Availability Heuristic - 12.3% (50 hits)
• Representativeness Heuristic - 4.7% (19 hits)
• Hindsight Bias - 9.8% (40 hits)
• Overconfidence Bias - 0%
• Framing Effect - 19.4% (79 hits)
• Loss Aversion - 0%
• Status Quo Bias - 0%
• Sunk Cost Effect - 0%
• Optimism Bias - 0%
• Pessimism Bias - 6.1% (25 hits)

Article text

The Atlantic Republishes JD Vance’s 2016 Essay Destroying Trump: ‘He Cannot Fix What Ails’ Americans

(AP Photo/Evan Vucci) The Atlantic published a piece, Saturday, which was highly critical of President Donald Trump — which may not seem all that surprising... until you notice the byline.

The essay — titled "Opioid of the Masses" — was written by none other than Vice President JD Vance.

The VP wrote the column in 2016, and The Atlantic republished it Saturday — 10 years to the day after it first ran.

In the piece, Vance argued that Trump is effectively a "pain reliever" offering a "quick escape."

"During this election season, it appears that many Americans have reached for a new pain reliever," Vance wrote.

"It too, promises a quick escape from life’s cares, an easy solution to the mounting social problems of U.S. communities and culture.

It demands nothing and requires little more than a modest presence and maybe a few enablers.

It enters minds, not through lungs or veins, but through eyes and ears, and its name is Donald Trump."

The now-vice president argued back then that Trump cannot deliver on his promises.

"What Trump offers is an easy escape from the pain," Vance wrote.

"To every complex problem, he promises a simple solution.

He can bring jobs back simply by punishing offshoring companies into submission.

As he told a New Hampshire crowd—folks all too familiar with the opioid scourge—he can cure the addiction epidemic by building a Mexican wall and keeping the cartels out.

He will spare the United States from humiliation and military defeat with indiscriminate bombing.

It doesn’t matter that no credible military leader has endorsed his plan.

He never offers details for how these plans will work, because he can’t.

Trump’s promises are the needle in America’s collective vein."

He added: "Trump is cultural heroin.

He makes some feel better for a bit.

But he cannot fix what ails them, and one day they’ll realize it."

As of this writing, the essay is the most-read article on The Atlantic's website.

The second-most read piece was a new companion essay by Peter Wehner titled "What JD Vance Once Knew."

"Ten years ago, the vice president wrote that one day, voters would realize the truth about Donald Trump," the article's subhead read.

"That day has now arrived."

And Vance's original piece quickly spread across social media: https://x.com/AdamKinzinger/status/2073511120887832920?

s20 https://x.com/NickWilliams33/status/2073584999530455515?

s20 https://x.com/KBAndersen/status/2073607777675620361?

s20 https://x.com/ShawnFetta/status/2073484655735525604?

s20 https://x.com/euanrellie/status/2073435952630861889?

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