Why Snap Judgment Leads to Poor Judgment

Yonason Goldson
Thu, 29 Jan 2026 23:00:00 -0800
Lifestyle

If you're old enough, you likely remember the moniker applied to former President Ronald Reagan during his two terms in the White House: the Teflon President.

Mr. Reagan had campaigned on the platform of economic recovery, but things got worse long before they started getting better. Although hailed as "the great communicator," he provided endless fodder for late-night comedy monologues by declaring ketchup a vegetable, suggesting that trees cause more pollution than cars and claiming that a year's worth of nuclear waste could be stored under a desk. His popularity even bounced back after the notorious Iran-Contra Scandal.

As with Teflon, nothing stuck. The president exuded such a rare combination of presence, charm, good humor, authenticity and confidence that even his critics couldn't resist his magnetism.
Updated: Fri Jan 30, 2026

If you're old enough, you likely remember the moniker applied to former President Ronald Reagan during his two terms in the White House: the Teflon President.

Mr. Reagan had campaigned on the platform of economic recovery, but things got worse long before they started getting better. Although hailed as "the great communicator," he provided endless fodder for late-night comedy monologues by declaring ketchup a vegetable, suggesting that trees cause more pollution than cars and claiming that a year's worth of nuclear waste could be stored under a desk. His popularity even bounced back after the notorious Iran-Contra Scandal.

As with Teflon, nothing stuck. The president exuded such a rare combination of presence, charm, good humor, authenticity and confidence that even his critics couldn't resist his magnetism.

In contrast, we might describe our current president as the Adhesive President. Love him or hate him, everything sticks to President Donald Trump. And yet, irony of ironies, he seems as unaffected by criticism and chaos now as Ronald Reagan did a generation ago.

The late Scott Adams brilliantly summed up Donald Trump's style. Although his steady stream of outrageous comments and behavior incites many to passionate hatred, the rapidity with which he gallops from one incendiary episode to the next overwhelms his detractors with "outrage fatigue." Before his assailants can give full attention to one ignominy, he's already moved on to another and then to another after that.

Which brings us to this week's entry into the Ethical Lexicon:

Fulgurate (ful*gu*rate/ fuhl-gyuh-reyt) verb

Emitting flashes like lightning.

Typically, we need to wait through interludes of darkness from one flash of lightning to the next. But President Trump's flashes appear with the frequency of strobe lighting, prompting political columnist Benyamin Rose to reflect in Mishpacha Magazine that, "Among the eight presidents I've covered in my career, I find him among the most predictable. He tells you what he's going to do and how he's going to do it, then he does it. He rarely flip-flops in the face of criticism — if anything, he doubles down."

In other words, what we see is what he is.

In this way, as in so many others, Donald Trump is the exception to the rule. Personality fulgurations more commonly provide brief and isolated revelations that sometimes betray, but can also belie, general character. Because none of us are accurately represented by either our best or our worst moments, we should be wary of snap judgments and anecdotal impressions.

Imagine that you were up all night with a sour stomach or a crying baby, then your car wouldn't start, your coffee cup sprang a leak and you forgot your laptop in the Uber. Chances are you'll be a little short with the guy who doesn't hold the door for you or the coworker who wants to show you two dozen photos of her nephew's birthday party.

Wouldn't you want them to show you a bit of grace? Shouldn't you do the same when the situation is reversed?

Conversely, a new business acquaintance or first date might come across as pleasant, kind, thoughtful and considerate. But when the mask drops under even mild pressure, you may discover red flags that can save you from disaster.

Fulgurations of personality provide us just what the word implies: Flashes of temperament that can warn us of a dark side lurking beneath a bright exterior or a radiant diamond waiting to have its rough surface polished away. Either way, we should never give them too much weight on their own.

Here's the simple truth: Human beings are complicated. It's irrational to invalidate the value of another person because of a single interaction or episode. Rather than demanding perfect character or ideological purity from others, embrace the wisdom of the sages, who taught: Judge the whole person on the side of merit.

We don't know what others have been through or are going through. We don't know why they hold the views they hold. When we seek out flashes of good, when we make the effort to find common ground, we can transform differences from a source of conflict into a source of strength, thereby building stronger relationships that promote a more cohesive and less fractured society.