The problem with unrealistic expectations [View all]
DU is great for what it is, but we tend to put much too much emphasis on the opinions of talking heads, even allegedly "expert" ones, to form our expectations. When we're told repeatedly that this is a slam dunk or that the SC has no choice but to allow the CO ruling to stand (some "experts" on MSNBC, plus a lot of celebrity "experts" on social media), it's not really surprising when reality arrives and it's not what we were told to expect, and we kind of lose our minds. Or completely lose our minds.
They're partly to blame, but it's really on us. Outside of that bubble (and, often, within), most of the analysis said that this was a very long shot. I went into the CO case at the SC with highly-tempered expectations -- I presumed a loss (I thought the conservatives might even disagree with CO that Trump committed insurrection) but thought there might be some dissent that could provide some insight -- and even those tempered expectations might have been a bit too lofty.
It's fine to be optimistic, and I am still cautiously optimistic about the other cases, but I also believe that this was always going to be resolved in November, even if the orange candidate is a convicted criminal by then. We're going to have to work for the outcome we desire.
