The Trouble with Trump: How his narcissism fooled political elites of both parties and made him a Messiah to the angry mob

 

Photo by Sean Ferigan on Unsplash

The Republican party gave up decency, honesty, and integrity for Donald Trump. It wasn’t in the plan, it was a casualty—a casualty of their decision to tie their fortunes to an unstable, vengeful man whose bravado and inability to accept defeat would overwhelm them all and fool them into believing he was something he is not—a strong man who could do their bidding and keep their people in line.

Trump’s lack of experience and knowledge regarding the role of the president and the inner workings of government led the Republican political class to believe he’d play the role of a figurehead, like George W. Bush. He would help them maintain control of a party, and a country, they were fast losing their grip on.

At first, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio and Lindsay Graham pushed back. They were clear-eyed about Trump’s shortcomings and were vocal about it. But somewhere down the line, it became clear that refusing to support Trump was no longer an option. Why?

Threats work. Republicans are not free-thinking, creative people who can pivot when circumstances change. It’s always been pretty much one-for-all and all-for-one with them. It’s one of their few strengths, politically. Until now.

Now the figurehead is running their show and it’s getting uglier by the minute.

Trump is targeting one of the Republican party’s most influential leaders: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. It’s not what they expected. But it should have been.

Ever since McConnell responded to the events of January 6^th by saying “…President Trump is practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of the day,” he’s been on Trump’s hit list.

It matters not that McConnell has done more to advance white/male/Christian control over our justice system than anyone—with his refusal to allow even one Supreme Court nominee to be vetted during the Obama administration—he’s now Trump’s enemy.

Why? Because he dissed Trump. It’s that simple. Trump has no other motivator.

Everything Trump does is about protecting his fragile ego.

Mitch has finally learned what Michael Cohen already knows: Trump is loyal to nothing and no one.

Why don’t his followers understand this? I suppose it’s because they think when Trump targets someone, it’s because they deserve it. Not so.

Trump’s behavior isn’t about the victims he targets—they are irrelevant. Equally irrelevant are the political consequences of his actions. He is not a strategist, he’s a reactionary. He lies and cheats because he is a liar and a cheater—it’s in him, it’s got nothing to do with anybody else.

∞

To understand Trump, you need to understand what it means to have a personality disorder. For one thing, it doesn’t work to project your idea of normal human behavior onto someone with a personality disorder. The usual rules don’t apply.

Specifically, a normal person with an abundance of confidence has accomplishments to justify that confidence. When a similar abundance of confidence is demonstrated by a person with narcissistic personality disorder, it is because that person is incapable of surviving emotionally without constantly reminding others of how great they are.

Such people will do anything to keep attention on themselves. That includes, in fact requires, pretending to be better at everything than they are.

The need for approbation is so strong in such a person they can never get enough. They must always project strength, intelligence, competence. This is why Trump spends so much of his time talking about how great he is: it’s how he needs to see himself.

Remember when Trump took the cognitive test and bragged about it? He reminded me of a 10-year-old, telling his mommy how well he did on his math test. His inability to comprehend how ridiculous he appeared shows how lacking in self-awareness he is. He thought he sounded smart.

Nothing matters to Trump as much as his need to be adored, admired, elevated, even worshipped. It is the foundation of his entire sense of self. That’s how we know Trump has a personality disorder and not just narcissistic tendencies.

Today, when I hear people say things like “Trump is a marketing genius” or “Trump sure knows how to use social media” or anything that implies Trump is smart and savvy, I just cringe.

Fran Leibowitz said it best “You don’t know anyone as stupid as Donald Trump.”

When people say they hope he’ll come around, they are denying reality. He won’t, he can’t. What we’ve seen is all there is.

Trump is broken.

∞

It was not leadership qualities or a sound political platform that won Trump the presidency in 2016. It was two things, one random, the other carefully orchestrated by the one superpower who wants our democracy to fail: Russia.

The random part is that so many angry Americans identified with him. This should not surprise us because they share similar characteristics: gullibility, lack of education, poor critical thinking skills, unwillingness to take responsibility for their situation, the need to blame others for their unhappiness.

Like Trump, his followers, see educated people as a threat. They too want to blame someone for their failures. Anyone who can validate them and excuse them from being responsible for their own unhappiness is a prime candidate for elevation to the role of leader, guru or even Messiah.

They were all looking for a way to feel better about themselves. Trump gave them that.

He also told them to distrust the government.

He said he would be different.

He said, “I alone can fix it.”

And they bought it.

 

∞

Putin knew Trump would do more to create chaos than a military strike ever could, and he took advantage of that knowledge to make his move. The Russia-based Internet Research Agency flooded social media with every kind of lunacy to discredit Democrats and anybody else who questioned Trump’s qualifications or motives.

QAnon, Putin, Twitter and Facebook assured Trump his first election victory.

If you doubt their contribution to Trump’s political success, look at Trump’s inability to keep even a moderate presence on social media since he lost the 2020 election. Even with his own much touted website (a failure by any standard) he’s gone nowhere.

Putin doesn’t care anymore and even Q has stopped encouraging Trump and his followers. He’s still banned from Twitter. Facebook has also banned him until after the 2022 mid-terms. We’ll have to see if they lift that ban or not.

If Trump had the internet chops people have credited him with, he’d have found a way to maintain his presence. But he failed because he’s a victim of his own worst instincts and they sabotage everything he touches.

The only power Trump has now is based on fear. Republicans know he’ll resort to violence if he’s cornered. They know his supporters will follow suit.

They are all held hostage by the dunce who thinks he’s a winner because none of his cronies are willing to tell him otherwise.

Trump and what’s left of the Republican party are not working toward “… a more perfect Union.” They are working toward a system of white/male/Christian minority rule.

Like the Nazi’s in the lead-up to WWII, Trump’s followers needed a scapegoat and they’re not that fussy about who it is. Blacks, Jews, Women, Muslims—they’ll all do just fine.

What brought the Republican base to Trump was their willingness to believe what he told them: That they were special. Unfortunately, when the person telling you that is the President of the United States, that’s a heady thing.

Imagine a Pulitzer Prize winning author commenting on one of your stories “This is fabulous! You’re so talented! Keep it up! You’re special!”

It doesn’t matter that Trump is functionally illiterate, petty, and sounds like a moron whenever he speaks.

They trust him because he allows them to believe in themselves.

∞

What gave Trump the status of Messiah among the Republican base is the very thing causing the party’s current implosion: violence, negativity, hatred and condemnation of Democrats and anyone else who dares question their irrational beliefs.

The world is changing but they are banking on Trump to stop it. The more grandiose Trump’s portrayal of himself, the more his base believes him capable of. They too fail to recognize the nature of Trump’s delusions.

They still believe he is a successful businessman, despite evidence to the contrary. Their follow-the-leader mentality coupled with his ability to raise their own self-esteem is a combination they are helpless to resist.

It’s okay if they are filled with hate. It’s okay if they think killing people is an appropriate solution to their anger. It’s okay if they refuse to learn, grow, adapt.

Donald is just like them, and he is the most successful person on earth.  

∞

The Democrats also failed to comprehend the true nature of their nemesis. For all their book smarts and lofty talk, they too projected normalcy onto Trump. For years into his presidency pundits and politicians alike were waiting for him come around, to be more presidential. So fearful of appearing judgmental or unfair, they gave him exactly what he needed to strengthen his grip on the country. They went along.

When he nominated Gorsuch for the Supreme Court, they chose to forgive and forget how McConnell had blocked the nomination of Merrick Garland to the bench just a few years earlier. They backed a man who believed it was appropriate to punish a truck driver for saving his own life by abandoning his broken-down vehicle in below freezing weather. Never mind that had he stayed inside that truck he would not have survived until morning.

How ironic that a nominee to the highest court in the land was confirmed by members of both parties after demonstrating such a blatant lack of judgement. Is a truck more valuable than a life? Are the rules more important than a human being? Apparently, so.

A single Democrat (Joe Manchin) similarly failed us by confirming Justice Kavanaugh. Whether you believe he attempted to rape Christine Blasi Ford or not, you can’t deny the viciousness or blatant disrespect his behavior conveyed during his confirmation hearings. This is a man whose life of privilege led him to feel entitled to a place on the court, regardless of his behavior, temperament, or suitability.

Watch the hearing without the sound. What you will see is a man so convinced of his superiority and the inevitability of his appointment that he becomes rabid at the slightest suggestion that he might not be the best choice. Where is the reasoned judgment and level-headedness we used to think were necessary for someone tasked with such an awesome responsibility?

Trump’s third nominee, Amy Coney Barrett, was not supported by Democrats, but it didn’t matter. After stacking the court with Republicans prior to her nomination, this was the final nail in the coffin for women’s rights. The current Texas abortion law would not be law at this time if she hadn’t joined the court. We knew she was part of a Christian cult that was pro-birth. We knew what she would do if she was allowed to join the other conservative justices on the court, and we let her do it.

∞

But perhaps the biggest failing of the Democratic party is one both Obama and Clinton are personally responsible for. They failed to recognize the power of their words and the weakness of the Republican base. They insulted, demeaned, and diminished the very people they needed to win over.

Obama didn’t understand the damage he did when he accused Republicans of clinging to guns or religion and blaming immigrants to explain their frustrations. 

When Hillary Clinton called Trump supporters “A basket of deplorables” she sealed her fate as well. She fed them exactly what they needed to make her an enemy for life. While no one could have predicted the lunacy that would follow, her years of political experience should have told her you don’t win hearts and minds by ridiculing people.

When Trump entered the political arena, he was the antithesis of the snide, superior, liberal elites who insulted the Republican base and made it impossible for them to trust the Democratic party. It was Obama and Clinton who opened the door for the flamboyant and comically incompetent man who soothed the hurt feelings of the angry mob and fed their need to feel justified in their hatred of anyone more educated and more successful than they knew themselves to be.

When emotions run high, facts fly out the window.

Fortunately, Biden knows this. That’s why he is always measured, contemplative, empathetic. But because he is also a Democrat, the ire of the Republican base has already been raised against him.

If he can pass legislation that helps the disenfranchised, it may help. If we can find a way to curtail the downward spiral of vitriol encouraged by the amoral business practices of Facebook, it may help. If we can elect more democratically minded politicians to Congress, it may help.

If Biden can undo some of the damage done by his predecessors, we may be able to save our democracy, for now.

Let’s just hope future politicians remember these lessons.

“When logic and proportion have fallen sloppy dead…” -- White Rabbit, Jefferson Airplane

 

Photo by Alex Motoc on Unsplash

Republicans have lost it.

If you remember the Cold War, you’ll be familiar with the expression “Better dead than red.” Now we have something just as stupid to replace it with: Better dead than blue.

What’s left of the Republican party (which is fortunately dwindling) is so committed to making Democrats wrong, they are willing to toss science, logic, and common sense out the window. Pundits have long puzzled over what would make an electorate vote against their own self-interests, and now we know: When the desire to be right and to prove another wrong is the only thing that matters.

Republicans are still refusing to get the vaccine and none of the arguments for that position make any sense. The longer this resistance lasts, the more illogical their thinking becomes.

They’ll promote treatments but rail against anyone who suggests they get the vaccine.

The vaccine is free and monoclonal antibody treatments are about $2k a pop. Not to mention the price of the hospital visit. Insurers are no longer waiving deductibles and covering Covid treatments like they did before the vaccine was available. Why advocate paying for treatment when you can eliminate the threat for free?

For months those hostile to the vaccine said that they wouldn’t take it because it wasn’t fully approved.

Well, now the Pfizer vaccine has been fully approved, and they still won’t get the shot—but they’re lining up for monoclonal antibody treatment which is still being administered under an “emergency use” authorization.

Republicans are also pushing Ivermectin (a horse de-wormer) and Hydroxychloroquine, neither of which have been approved by the FDA for Covid treatment.

Republicans just don’t trust the vaccine.

But didn’t the Trump administration develop the vaccine? So, Republicans don’t trust it because…the Biden administration is distributing it?

Do they think a Democrat opens every vial and contaminates it before it gets to patients? Or do they believe that since people died under Trump they need to die under Biden too or else it will make Trump look bad? Newsflash: Trump already looks bad. If you’re worried that fewer deaths on Biden’s watch will make Biden look like a better president, well, Biden IS a better president.

Covid isn’t real. People aren’t really dying. It’s a hoax.

Hmm. Then why do they need monoclonal antibodies, horse de-wormer or hydroxychloroquine to treat it?

Masks infringe on their freedom.

Republicans are fully committed to their right to die and to take others down with them. (They think they have that right, but they really don’t. If they did, there would be no law against murder or driving drunk or yelling “fire” in a crowded theater.)

Vaccine mandates are about control, not health and safety.

Yet, Republicans don’t seem to have trouble with other vaccines. One of the highest rates of Covid in the country is in Mississippi—a state with the most stringent vaccine mandates in the country for school kids. The governor of that state is now calling Biden’s vaccine mandate “An attack on hard-working Americans.”

He says Biden is asking them to choose between a jab and a job. Well, when you put it that way, I guess we should all give up employment so we don’t have to get a shot. Heck, we should give up travel too. I seem to recall needing a yellow fever vaccine years ago before a planned trip to Africa. Damn! If I’d know it was really an attack on me, and it was all about taking away my freedom, I’d have thought twice about that trip.

But today, I heard the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard from a Republican.

Biden only implemented a vaccine mandate because he knows that as soon as he tells people to get it, Republicans will refuse and more of them will die.

It’s all a game, you see. A big fat mind-fuck perpetrated by Biden. Isn’t it obvious? Think about it. Biden is trying to wipe out Republicans so Democrats can take over the country.

Of course, for this to be true, the following would also need to be true:

·       Biden knew if he mandated the vaccine, Republicans would automatically refuse.

·       Biden is relying on this refusal to ensure the virus continues to spread.

·       If the virus spreads, it will kill Republicans because everybody else is vaccinated.

Someone in the Republican party is pushing this trifecta of idiocy because it’s just too far-fetched to believe that Biden wants to save lives by getting more people vaccinated.

That killer, Biden. You can’t believe anything he says. Next thing he’ll be pushing vaccines on kids!

Ah, yes, well that’s exactly what’s next. Pfizer has just confirmed the safety and efficacy of a one-third dose vaccine for children ages 5 to 12. Biden must want them dead too.

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There is only one reason for all this nonsense, and it has nothing to do with the vaccine or freedom. Republicans backed a crazy man. To deny that reality, they must deny all reality. The only way they can hang onto their misguided belief that Trump is their savior, is to insist that everyone else is evil.

If the truth comes out, they will all go down in history as fools who believed the crazy man’s lies and let a psychopath into the White House.

I guess we should have realized they’d take this approach with the vaccine. They showed us on January 6^th, they’d rather hang Mike Pence and shoot Nancy Pelosi than admit Trump’s a loser. At this point, nothing should surprise us.

Why Trump?

The question of the day seems to be how anybody (intelligent, good, thoughtful, grown-up, non-sexist, non-racist, willing to take personal responsibility, etc.) can possibly vote for Donald Trump. I have thus far believed that ignorance is the only possible excuse. But I am beginning to think I am wrong.

What if Trump supporters are not really answering the question about who would make the best President? Maybe they are just trying to send a message to the so-called political elite? Hmm. What message might that be?

How about: “FUCK YOU.”

Granted, the election is meant to result in a candidate who can actually do the job, not just expose the deep-seated anger felt by those who feel their government has failed them. And yes, their timing is a little awkward since we can’t resolve that issue by a single vote. But timing is not always convenient.

As much as we are supposed to be focused on choosing the next President, we are also supposed to be listening to the will of the people—all of them, not just the so-called Elite. And we haven’t done such a great job with that.

There are people in this country who lost everything during the economic crises of 2008. Entire life savings were depleted. Some of these people spent their careers making things we can’t live without, and suddenly their retirement is gone and they are sweeping floors at Starbucks, just to survive.

You can’t blame them for this – they were not nearly as foolish as the people Bernie Madoff bilked, because they weren’t asking for something ‘too good to be true’. They just believed our government would protect them from abuse by our own financial industry.  Is that really too much to ask?

When companies disappear from towns that literally sprung up around them, how are the people that lose their jobs supposed to survive?  Where should they go? What if are now underwater and they can’t sell/rent their home?  What if they don’t have the money to move? What if their parents are living with them and are too frail to be uprooted? Do the so-called “Elites” ever think about those people?  

Hillary needs to talk to them personally so she can demonstrate her understanding of their needs.  Instead, she calls them “deplorables” and talks around them rather than with them.

She is a representative of the current establishment. On their behalf, she needs to apologize for the Iraq War;  the various financial institutions that have failed us; the police who won’t go into cities they consider to be too violent, even though they know innocent people live there and are trapped, without protection or hope.

Can you blame them for asking why we spend money helping people in other countries but ignore their needs?

These are people who have historically been dismissed as “ignorant or stupid”. They are tired of being side-lined in a country that brags about being a Democracy. They may not have spent their free time studying politics or government but that does not make them stupid or “deplorable.” They are still Americans, they need help, and we are not helping them. That is why they are voting for Trump.

The only way for them to consider the possibility that a veteran of the American Political System should be trusted with their future, is for Hillary Clinton to personally apologize on behalf of the entire American government, for having abandoned them in the past. 

Oh, and she needs to mean it.