I had a fascinating discussion yesterday with a patient who knows Trump personally...

[Hortensis]

12. America has many "functional illiterates."

I've read that the typical person who basically stops reading after leaving school loses about 5 years of reading level. So, for a person who never read more than necessary and graduated high school reading at a 10th grade level, after a very few years reading would be approximately at a 5th grade level.

Of course the many, many millions functioning at that level are not going to be reading even newspapers for information, much less articles from The Atlantic or the New Yorker, far less more scholarly pieces. And almost all information is available only in print.

People meeting and interviewing Trump have commented on how much he watches TV. What happens on that screen is what matters to him.

Thanks for the post, PCIntern. I'm afraid it sounds all too credible.