U.S. has history of electing agitators

It’s said that on Oct. 15, 1793, all of Marie Antoinette’s hair turned white.

- MARK BULGUTCH

It’s because she was so worried about what was going to happen the next day. She was going to be beheaded.

Science tells us this story cannot literally be true. No amount of worrying can change your hair colour overnight. But stress or worrying can do it over weeks or months.

Which means that if you are paying attention to electoral politics in the United States, you might look to stock up on home hair-dyeing products.

That’s because Donald Trump could yet be re-elected president. That is despite his major legal troubles (charged in four criminal cases), his growing incoherence (“You know Argentina, great guy…”) and his open promises to become a dictator (“… for those who have been wronged and betrayed, I am your retribution.”)

There’s still a certain reluctance to believe Trump can win because we retain a stubborn confidence that the American people can’t possibly choose such a repulsive figure to lead them. Yes, they’ve done it once before, but surely now they know better.

That is misplaced confidence.