I have to admit that the news that President Trump had pardoned Dinesh D’Souza caught me by surprise.  My exposure to D’Souza up until this time had been watching him debate Christopher Hitchens on various occasions none of which resulted in a favorable outcome for D’Souza.  He was the least competent debater that Hitchens’ faced in this writer’s humble opinion.  Even in venues that were filled with his supporters he was booed rather soundly for the pathetic tactics and discredited arguments he relied on. So news of his pardon left me scratching my head.  His interview on CNN’s New Day with Alisyn Camerota  cleared things up.

Why D’ Souza’s religious arguments are some of the sloppiest and least nuanced is relatively easy to see.  He places much logical heft on the Argument of Personal Incredulity which, in fact, has zero logical heft. This argument starts with Dinesh cogitating over a particularly intractable problem such as the appearance of design in living things. His philosophical and scientific nuanced views of evolution (we came from monkeys) allows him to discard the theory out of hand for who could believe such a ridiculous thing? What is left then to explain this design we see in living things.  Dinesh thought really long and really hard and came up with nothing, nada, bupkis. The only possible conclusion, he reasoned,  is that this problem can’t be solved by the mind of a human since he was unable to do it. God, as he will tell you, is the only other explanation that makes sense (to him), ergo, there is your evidence for God.  The arrogance that fuels such an argument and convolutes sophistry and logic is breathtaking and one should ponder it for a moment while your eyebrows return from the back of your head.  All that is required on his reader’s part is to accept the presupposition that Dinesh is way smarter than they or anyone they may know and everything buttons up nice and neat.  In fact, any sort of philosophical, scientific or social question lends itself to this treatment ending up at the same destination having traveled the same intellectual path to get there. It is the ultimate Procrustean Bed.

Donald Trump could care less about D’Souza’s religious beliefs.  So where is the appeal that would make D’Souza jump to the top of the pardon list?  Here’s a hint: D’Souza has a book coming out on July 31, 2018 titled Death of a Nation: Plantation Politics and the Making of the Democratic Party which answers the questions “Who is killing America? Is it really Donald Trump and a GOP filled with white supremacists?”  I’ll bet you already know his answer and why Donald Trump wanted to get his pimp pardoned and out working the street. Do yourself a favor and watch the interview.  I’ll wager you can’t go for more than five minutes before you turn it off and go take a shower.