At Western High School, [FN1] our math teacher [FN2] distinguished “dumb” (no brains) from “stupid” (brains present, but willfully shut off). Fast-forward: former classmates fr WHS re-post memes on FB. People read the memes & might accept them as true, even though 1/10

the memes’ content is, totally or mostly, false & stated in offensive terms, such as on 4/2/25. A meme was re-posted under the header “Net worth before running for President” & had profile head shots of trump, [FN3] Pres Obama and Sec’y Clinton w/dollar figures. [FN4] 2/10

Then came “after” figures: trump, $3 billion; Pres Obama, $40 million; & Sec’y Clinton, $100 million. The tag line: “But trump’s the guy trying to steal your money? If that’s what you think, you’re definitely a special kind of stupid.” It’s credited to “Sonny Hebert, 03/12/25.” 3/10

A “special kind of stupid” isnt in diagnostic manuals, but FactCheck [FN5] did a smack-down over five years ago. [FN6] I recommend the article, the gist of which is that there is little factual support for the figures given for Pres Obama or Sec’y Clinton “before.” 4/10

As to “after”: The Clintons and the Obamas made significant sums of money from books THEY ACTUALLY WROTE unlike trump. No money was taken from the American people, either. People should check to make sure what they say are facts actually are facts. 5/10

I don’t believe my classmates from high school willfully shut off their minds. I don’t know “Sonny Hebert,” but if he actually wrote this crap, he’s no “special” kind of stupid. He’s just an asshole. And trump really is ripping off all he can get. 6/10

Footnotes:
FN1. Class of ‘73. Location & description of Western High School (“WHS”) can be found at Martin, Erika G., “One Teenager’s Battle To Attend School—And What It Tells Us About The Framing Of Disease,” Health Affairs, 03/28/25, accessed 04/03/25. 7/10

Footnotes:
FN2. Mr Hitch taught algebra (1969-70) and geometry (1970-71).
FN3. I’m as civil as I can be in referring to trump in this manner. And I‘m far more civil to trump than many are to Pres Obama and Sec’y Clinton. 8/10

Footnotes:
FN4. The dollar amounts “before” are: trump, $4.5 billion; Pres Obama, $3 million; and Sec’y Clinton, $480,000.
FN5. FactCheck is a project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center at Univ of Pennsylvania 9/10

Footnotes:
FN6. Spencer, Saranac Hale, “Accounting for Net Worth of Trump, Clintons and Obamas,” FactCheck, 02/26/20, accessed 04/03/25. https://www.factcheck.org/2020/02/accounting-for-net-worth-of-trump... 10/10