I haven’t done a Trump Derangement check on my Facebook friends for a while now, and that nonsense above compelled me to return to the field. Curmie posted something almost as idiotic a few days ago, and it just made me sad; I couldn’t bear to chronicle the shocking intellectual and ethical deterioration of EA’s former esteemed columnist since President Trump was sworn into office.

The thing above was posted yesterday by long-time friend from Harvard, a sharp, indomitable woman whom I admire in many ways and have always found delightful in person. But that dishonest, ignorant, gaslighting rant is beyond redemption. It’s so stupid that I have to wonder if my friend just posted it without thinking, as a lazy virtue-signaling exercise.

Just to address two items that are easily debunked:

• The highest national average gas price during the Biden administration was $5.02 per gallon in June of 2022. The national average was $2.39 per gallon on January 20, 2021, the day Biden took office. The national average was $3.10 per gallon when Biden left office in January 2025. Gas was not “1/2” what it is now.
• Inflation always goes up. The inflation rate fluctuates. Making that error is signature significance: anyone who makes it doesn’t know what they are talking about.

We were “friends” with Canada, Mexico, and “Europe”! Who wrote this, a third grader? Not one single thing is “better”? Gee, I don’t know, I’d call not having 2.5-3 million fewer illegal immigrants in the country “better” than having the law breakers still here. Not having open borders is also “better” unless one’s perspective is, you know, legally, historically and logically insane. The whole list is, or should be, an embarrassment to anyone who would post or “like it.” Once again, I wrestled my fingers to the ground. My friend is a lifetime theater community denizen despite the Harvard degree, and I suspect her sophistication regarding current events is approximately that of Elmo’s. But why would she post such garbage, knowing that she’s asserting talking points without research or understanding? If elite college-educated voters are this addled, what are the rest like?