Here is the fifth appearance of a newish Trump.45 species of information transfer, a hint of his gracious MAGA restoration effort. Imagine the sound of a flashbulb popping on a heavy 40’s style news photog’s camera wielded by a Joe Pesci-type character, revealing in an instant the seamy side of politics, life, love, social gossip, and juicy scandal. Who would ever have believed the intimate connexity of the terms Presidential and Quickie would be a seriously appropriate item of discourse?

Welcome to Trumpville, y’all. Popcorn at the back. Also, Trump.45 hats and other souvenir merchandise available at just a small (really, very tiny) markup, all to support only the very best of causes (personally determined by our Dear Leader, DJT).

Fifth up on the turntable, Tillerson’s First Hill to Climb For Trump:

Trump Overrules Tillerson, Rejecting Elliott Abrams for Deputy Secretary of State

02/10/17 by Maggie Haberman, Jonathan Weisman And Eric Lichtblau

Mr. Trump overruled his newly minted secretary of state, Rex W. Tillerson, and rejected the secretary’s choice for his deputy at the department, two people briefed on the decision said Friday.

The deputy’s job was denied for Elliott Abrams, a conservative who had served under President Ronald Reagan and President George W. Bush, deals a blow to Mr. Tillerson in his first week on the job. The rejection of Mr. Abrams leaves Mr. Tillerson without a sherpa to help guide the first-time government official around the State Department headquarters.

Mr. Trump had a productive meeting with Mr. Abrams on Tuesday, according to a White House official and a person close to Mr. Abrams. But after it took place, Mr. Trump learned of Mr. Abrams’s pointed criticisms of the president when he was running for president, the administration official said. Among those criticisms was a column headlined “When You Can’t Stand Your Candidate,” which appeared in May 2016 in The Weekly Standard.

Mr. Trump has been increasingly focused on who was with him or against him during his campaign, according to several people who have spoken with him in recent days.

Mr. Tillerson had argued strongly for Mr. Abrams. So had Jared Kushner, Mr. Trump’s son-in-law and a senior adviser. Senator Tom Cotton, Republican of Arkansas who is closely aligned with friends of Mr. Abrams’, and some members of the pro-Israel lobbying group Aipac, had been reaching out to Democratic senators to impress upon them the importance of Mr. Abrams receiving Senate confirmation.

Aides to Mr. Trump did not respond to an email seeking comment.

Rex Tillerson faced his first manly test of wills, not against Russia or China or Iran or North Korea (or ISIS, for that matter), but against his boss, the Big Dog, possessor of a logic forged in Heaven and an even stronger iron banded will. Rex did a face plant.

Nobody gets over on the supremely logical Trumpster, no matter what other people’s rules of logic prescribe.

There is a vast intellectual history of methods for logical inference, dating back to before the ancient Greeks, and embodied in formal philosophical reasoning and debates for more than 2,000 years.*

There are several systems of logic, both formal and informal. Just to be clear, Informal logical principles are not a bit loosey-goosey, nor all that easy to practice consistently, even for highly educated Ivy League graduates.

And informal logic is plenty daunting enough. Unless you happen to possess the superb self-confidence and superior mental learning embodied by none other than our own Trump.45, always on the job, even when he’s off playing golf in Florida or New Jersey, or wherever.

For everyone else here is a simple summary diagram of the informal logical rules. I find it sufficiently abstruse myself that I often often need to cogitate carefully and consult reference works to avoid pitfalls while analyzing potential problem situations.

Thank goodness Trump has such a lightning quick appreciation of the core operations always ready at his mental fingertips.

The Abrams conundrum appears to be an example similar to the informal logical rule of hypothetical syllogism.

Perhaps we can express it in natural language terms plain English in the following form (Note: we have swapped A, B, and C for the original p, q, and r, believing them to be more dynamic and less Greekish, and thus more America firstish):

A is True; A implies B; B implies C; therefore, A implies C.

OR

Trump is President: Trump wants Tillerson; Tillerson wants Abrams; therefore, Trump wants Abrams.

Everything seemed to be going alone fine as of this past Tuesday (three days ago). Then somebody (Mr. X?) told Trump variable C (Abrams) had some written some discouraging words about then candidate Trump back in May 2016. Hold up there partner.

Trump did not return the love to variable C implied by the hypothetical syllogism logical rule. By Trumpian Standards of logic and practice, we have instead Abrams out, Tillerson stymied.

But this is not the whole story. Thee wasn’t just a single logical chain tending to favor Abrams. The New York Times tells us there was an identical repetition with Jared Kushner, a Trump Senior While House Advisor, son-in-law to the Man, and father of three of Trumps’ own grandchildren, to wit:

A is True: A implies B; B implies C; therefore, A implies C.

OR

Trump is President: Trump wants Kushner; Kushner wants Abrams; therefore, Trump wants Abrams.

Again, no soap.

And then there is yet a third iteration, with Tom Cotton, the Republican Senator from Arkansas, and a fairly close Trump confidant in his own right.

A is True; A implies B; B implies C; therefore, A implies C.

OR

Trump is President: Trump wants Cotton; Cotton wants Abrams; therefore, Trump wants Abrams.

Forget it Elliott. Just go home. You’re not going to get a cookie.

It didn’t make a lick of difference who was slotted in the ‘B’ role (whether U.S> Secretary of State Tillerson, Trump’s on-in-law Kushner, or Senator and advisor Cotton). Abrams as the ‘C’ character was dead in water, not happening.

Remember, Trump met directly with Abrams just 72 hours ago, with an apparent thumbs up reaction immediately afterwards. This is only proof that Trump has such incredibly strong core principles that he can resist simultaneous blandishments from friends, family and expert professional employees.

Revenge is such a sweet dish, served hot or cold, and Trump may have enjoyed playing host to a candidate making his nicest to the Big Dog even as Abrams was a Dead Man Walking, as Trump.45 did with loser Mitt Romney over a fancy restaurant dinner in New York. It might have been a setup sop to Rex to show that Trump had heard him out, even if he wasn’t convinced. Always keep the rubes guessing, even if they already work for you.

And then there is the looks-the-part test. Tillerson and the Generals all pass. John Bolton lost out because of his unruly facial hair. Only the Donald can look scruffy on camera, not his appointees (except maybe Bannon for reasons unknown). And Abrams might have come a cropper because he is too obviously balding. Perhaps this physical reminder triggers an involuntary queasy reaction in Trump who prides himself on his luxurious full head of glorious hair, 100% all his own, mind you.

Is Elliott’s dismissal another example of a failed auditions in front of Trump the Firer, appearance wise.

Or, is the key that an unidentified Mr. X wormed in there (inside Trump’s head) in the last 24 hours or so and rotated Trump’s logical framework from proposition r to conclusion not r?

Who might the unidentified Mr. X be in the flesh? Well, the usual suspects would include Bannon and Flynn for starters. Kellyanne normally stays out of foreign policy hassles, when she can. And the Stephen twins aren’t blabbing (yet, on this subject). And maybe Flynn is doing a little duck and cover just now, for the whole inappropriate Russian contact thing is rearing its ugly head again , so that Trump even had to say he’d look into it while he was waiting to go play golf and trounce that little Japanese guy. Boy, that failing NYT paper and its reporters sure are a persistent pain in the Presidential.45 ass.

Trump’s wise decision in the Abrams matter must have been made as a matter of principle, not rotational speed, because Trump is the Bosso Supremo. And no one in their right mind could believe Trump suffered a short-term memory lapse and simply lost his place on the topmost page of memory hints.

All this fuss is one more shining example of why Trump is the most highly qualified person in his Administration for every job there that needs doing, even many more than a few at once. Otherwise, why would Trump have won the election so convincingly, including the legitimate popular vote totals.

The only reason Trump doesn’t hold all the important offices himself all at the same time (though he easily could) is that Trump is so modest he doesn’t want to grandstand or showboat, while he alone cares for all Americans who deserve his sympathy and fatherly protection as he fixes stuff.

As for the haters and losers out there, those pitiful few now being rapidly left behind, they will regret their feckless choices while Victory in America marches on.

Trump’s spokesteam members were cautious on this story as it was another left field drop down. This time they chose the option of a declination of comment punt, until the Boss’s motivations might become clearer over the next while via Twit or off the cuff TV or radio comment.

As for Rex Tillerson, his Secretary of State mountain just became a little bit higher to climb and harder to scale. But as former CEO of Exxon, and a fabulous negotiator who knows how to get the oil from anywhere on the planet, he’ll figure it out for our Dear Leader.

Meanwhile Daddy Trump will observe benignly from the sidelines, as his handiwork flourishes and prospers in the sun filled American climate to come, just around the corner now.

The Philosophical Sum and Substance

As for the rules and principles of logical thinking (formal or informal) and heavy philosophical analysis, that is better left to academic pointy heads, those folks who teach and write because they can’t make it in the real world of profit generation that Trump excels in. The only World that matters.

All the rest of that stuff is just so much noise.

Trump is focused: Kill ISIS Dead, Better Trade Deals, Build the Wall, Deep Six Regulations, ObamaCare Must Go.

A better America in 15 words or less, and no complicated algebraic diagrams to worry about.

*For those thirsting for an introduction to the world of philosophy in manageable chunks, here is a fairly readable web source. Take in small doses lest your head spin, unless you are an experienced intellectual explorer of this realm.

A cautionary tale for beginners and intermediates.

If you are ready for the high-powered, full-on adult version of things philosophical, here is a tremendous resource from philosophical brainiacs at Stanford and elsewhere, the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (SEP), which has been growing and preparing for 22 years. It is learned, lucid, and comprehensive. I guarantee it would keep you occupied through several winter seasons while snowed-in anywhere in the northern United States.

Use this Wikipedia link to gain access to this massive intellectual resource.