I frequently refer to the recurring discussions among sane Americans–the ones that begin with incomprehension: what do Trump’s supporters see in him that they find attractive? What evidence can they cite to suggest that he is even minimally competent? How do they explain away the copious, constantly-growing evidence of his corruption, his ignorance, his childish and unhinged behaviors?
Clearly, the ability of voters in the age of the internet to rely on sources of “information” that confirm their desired “facts” has played a major part.
A recent post by a friend of mine suggests that the purveyors of cyber-disinformation rely on the civic ignorance of their audience; he posted a copy of a story from a Trump site about four Democratic Senators who have announced they were switching parties in response to impeachment. There were pictures of the Senators, and they were identified by name. One small problem: None of them were real. They don’t exist.
Presumably, those who created the site were confident that visitors wouldn’t know that there are no Senators with those names (or faces).
That’s what my people call chutzpah, and Kellyanne Conway would call “alternate reality.”
I’ve seen a number of articles either penned by or interviews of psychiatrists, and in most of them, like this article from Raw Story, the professionals identify traits common to Trump supporters: authoritarian personality syndrome, social dominance orientation, and a connected group of diagnoses that revolve around bigotry. Studies following the 2016 election found a significant relationship between racial resentment and support for Trump; studies also found that Trump voters have fewer interactions with people of different races or religions, and are more likely to exhibit “relative deprivation.”
Relative deprivation refers to the experience of being deprived of something to which one believes they are entitled. It is the discontent felt when one compares their position in life to others who they feel are equal or inferior but have unfairly had more success than them.
I was intrigued by an article focusing on the opinion of a long-time conservative named Tom Nichols (full disclosure, I have no idea who he is–hadn’t previously come across him). Nichols says that “being nuts” is Trump’s “superpower.”
If Trump were not able to convince his cult that reality isn’t real, we’d be arguing about who’s really doing well and who isn’t – just as we did under Obama and every other president. Farmers would be up in arms,” Nichols said in a Twitter thread. “When Trumpers say they’re better off, there’s no evidence for it other than that they *feel* better off. Factories aren’t reopening. Dead small towns are not being reborn. The cities? Doing fine, thank you. But Trump says: ‘This isn’t true,’ and being *nuts* is what sells it.”
Nichols noted that Trump’s ridiculous behavior was on full display in the bizarre letter he sent to Nancy Pelosi. He pointed out that the tone and absurdist quality of the letter —not just Trump’s usual lies and numerous exclamation points —have led many observers to genuinely question Trump’s mental health.
I don’t question it. I have long been of the opinion that Trump is significantly mentally ill. Others are finally coming to that same conclusion.
“I’m only 2 1/2 paragraphs in to Trump’s letter and it’s clear to me that our President is unwell, unfit and very uninformed about our government & our legal system. And that fills me with a profound sadness that we’re at this point. It’s time to fix this,” wrote legal analyst Joyce Vance.
Lawfare Executive Editor Susan Hennessey wrote: “This is not a letter authored by someone of sound mind or in full command of his mental faculties. The implications of that are obviously immense and quite scary but how long can we really continue to ignore it?”
As Nichols pointed out, Trump’s supporters celebrated that letter. (“He tells it like it is…”)
How much do people have to lie to themselves, and for how long, before we can conclude that they aren’t just uninformed, but mentally unwell? How much do people have to hate and resent various “Others” in order to reject the evidence of their own eyes and ears?
And most important of all, as we approach November of 2020, how many of these people are there?
To answer the questions posed in that penultimate paragraph, simply examine the rise of Adolph Hitler and the consequences.
“Lawyers representing anti-abortion, forced-birth, conservative Christians, are calling a 12-year-old rape victim “a murderer” for choosing to have an abortion after an Alabama court ruled that the girl, who was raped by an adult relative, could have an abortion without parental consent.”
Copied and pasted from a Patheos article is a typical example of the Trump supporter’s mind set on a primary anti-abortion at all cost evangelical issue held by all of them. A 12 year old may have menstrual periods but their bodies are not yet fully developed to safely sustain a pregnancy for the girl or the fetus. The mental and emotional damage from rape and forced pregnancy on this child is not even considered by the lawyers in this case. Another example of conservative evangelical control which identifies “traits common to Trump supporters; authoritarian personality syndrome, social dominance orientation, and a common group of diagnoses that evolve around bigotry.” The Trump/Pence pseudo christianity, referred to as evangelicals, have become authorities socially dominating religious bigotry.
The Mark Galli editorial in “Christianity Today” has forced a crack in the evangelical hold on Trump’s supporters and could be step one in bringing into the open the interference of religion into politics and health issues and laws such as those enacted by Pence here in Indiana and other states. This also brings into the chaotic impeachment situation another distraction from what Trump and McConnell are doing to stall action on the impeachment; it is NOT Speaker Pelosi’s demand for an oath from McConnell and set rules to follow that is the problem. It is “Those Trump Supporters”!
I strongly suggest reading Arlie Russell Hochschild’s: Anger and Mourning on the American Right – see my review of it at: http://georgesworldonthewater.blogspot.com/2019/07/arlie-russell-hochschild-anger-and.html – to help understand the perhaps 25-35% – of diehard supporters. I think that there is more to these people, than has been pointed out – though racism and sexism – are highly important. I also think that there are people who really profit from parts of Trump’s policies – perhaps 10%. Most importantly though are the 20% or so of “Independents” and “Middle of the road (sic) Republicans” (mostly white women) – who really may be the most important issue. The people you try to refer to – unsuccessfully I think in significant part – relate to why Trump has 85%+ support among the Republican Party base and why a state like Wisconsin or Michigan (and certainly Ohio) could be seen now as: “Trump leading Biden” – states. The Impeachment hearings – seem to have NOT helped change – the perspective of many of these people in a Positive way (Negative way for some). It isn’t “the facts” – The Republican congresspersons and senators – so far are winning their gamble – of stalling, silence, ridicule, avoiding the facts etc. – with many of those who matter. IF – the middle 20% – moved against Trump – suddenly there would be 60-70% support for impeachment – and the move to impeach would predominate – or a bunch of Republicans would face trouncing in the 2020 elections (hardly what they are likely to move towards). The emotions – of fear, hatred, and similar – are more important to many people than “the facts” and they will find “facts” to support their fears and feelings. I would note that Hochschild’s – description of – women of the right – include – real estate agents making good money, teachers and others who aren’t stereotyped commonly as “ignorant”. Their racism and acceptance of sexism – and religious beliefs and similar color their world(s).
It is disappointing and sad to read blogs that cover this issue. George’s analysis is the most disheartening of all. These things really say that the citizens of this country have become SO self-centered that they cannot see the forest for the trees of their own stupidity. Hence, the cultism that is Trump and the Republican party.
I’ve been sparring with a retired FBI agent who fits the profile of the self-serving internet surfer for ten years. His basic opening play every day is “It’s Obama’s fault”. From there he descends into the glorification of Trump and Trumpism. There is no dissuading with facts or reason. He’s not interested – as these article references indicate.
What’s the worst part, in my opinion, is that the worst of us will re-elect the most evil and incompetent madman in the history of politics. If threatened with defeat, this lunatic will suspend the Constitution, declare it illegal and strip everyone of their rights. Worse still, he may start a nuclear war….because Putin told him to.
Fascinating, George. I know several women within the local GOP who fit your description perfectly and they all support Trump. They dismiss the racism within their party saying that it’s part of the “fake news” who works with the Dems to bring down Trump.
The more ammunition Trump gives reporters and then it’s reported and used by Dems to show he’s unfit, the more people come to Trump’s defense. For instance, after the Dems impeached DJT, his favorability ratings increased by 6%.
This is one of the reasons the Dem Party held off impeachment hearings until they just couldn’t ignore his blatant abuse of power. If he gets a quick acquittal and Joe Biden is forced down our throats, we’ll get another four years of Trump/Pence.
To be honest, this fits with the geopolitical world as well as Fascist regimes exist in several countries within South America, India, France and now Britain. I wonder where all these countries got their Fascist leadership to replace the “corruption within socialism.”
It’s the late stages of market capitalism that the USA has spread around the world in imperialistic fashion. Last time I checked, the market depends on “rational agents.” As you’ve pointed out repeatedly, Trump supporters are far from rational.
A British fisherman called Boris Johnson a “regular guy” even though Boris has shown nothing but contempt for the working-class Brits; the same Brits handed over their country to the Tories and Boris.
It requires lots of propaganda to convince people to advocate for policies against their own self-interests — lots of it!
I live surrounded by “high end” Trump supporters in southwest Florida. Most of these folks are not racists to a much greater degree than most of us are. What do they see in Trump? A relatively prospering economy, a push back against more government, and lots and lots of new judges more compatible with their views. And around here it isn’t just the rich who are buying Trump. The plumbers, electricians, building inspectors, cops — they are as well.
We can see that the emperor has no clothes; we can see his appalling imperfections. But unless we find ways to demonstrate to “them” that he is not what is delivering the economy they are enjoying then they are unlikely to change. An attitude of superiority on our part isn’t going to cut it. And we need a whole lot of “them” to win in 2020
IMO his supporters are masochists that feel the need to supplicate themselves before a bully. Trump obviously holds them in contempt and thinks of them as ‘saps’. Self pity is a big part of the mind set of the Trumpers. It propels them to look for an evil king that will punish all of the ideas and people who have challenged their world views. Often they must come from ‘spare the rod, spoil the child’ families where coerced obedience is the family contract. They need certainty and to be able to swallow the cruelties that were preached and applied to them. Such as white superiority and Gay = evil, USA = the New Zion that does no evil. Mostly they seem to crave license to harm the liberals that are prospering. Jealously is a powerful emotion that craves justification.
From an article in The Hill:
President Trump lashed out again at wind farms on Saturday, claiming that the production of wind turbines causes a large carbon footprint.
During a speech to the conservative student group Turning Point USA, Trump told attendees that he “never understood” the allure of wind power plants, according to a report from Mediaite.
“I never understood wind,” Trump said, according to Mediaite. “I know windmills very much, I have studied it better than anybody. I know it is very expensive. They are made in China and Germany mostly, very few made here, almost none, but they are manufactured, tremendous — if you are into this — tremendous fumes and gases are spewing into the atmosphere. You know we have a world, right?” https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/475701-trump-rails-against-windmills-i-never-understood-wind?fbclid=IwAR0grJZwIQHF1VzFMOtOHqVVP7Y2U042RM1dAzEoFvpLmy-di_G9WGFUEvk
===================================
This has the usual superiority boast of President Agent Orange, “I know windmills very much, I have studied it better than anybody”. The “Anybody”, would include engineers with a degree. Hey, who needs a Degree in Engineering, when you are a legend in your mind.
Presidents and Elected Officials should be bring a degree of prestige to the job. It is possible to disagree, we may have different opinions. Prestige took a big hit when Bush the Younger, proclaimed Iraq had WMD’S.
Anyway, for the hard core follower of President Agent Orange and Pastor Pence their lies are superfluous. Belief is all that matters, blind obedience even when contradicted by facts.
To a greater or lesser degree 30+% of the population of the United States may be classified as hard core Trumpers with another 10+% sympathizers. To see them as a homogeneous group, to psychoanalyze them as if they were homogeneous, and to call them names indicative of our feelings of superiority to them is no formula for gaining the defections needed to rid the country of this scourge. Quite the opposite.
How many of these people are there? A huge lot of them, both full-tilt cultists and folks who can’t figure out how to be conservatives without being Republicans. And they’ll ALL vote, and there will no intra-party disagreements about it.
MCL. I so wonder why anyone could possibly support this obviously unfit man. Your comment is one of the best I have read in shunting some light on this problem. Thanks.
The question isn’t, “How many of them are there?” The question is, “Where are they and what do we need to do to counter them in the Electoral College?” If a three million vote edge isn’t enough, we need to assume that unless we get the right three million votes, we’re doomed.
Now I ask, will those whose candidates lose in the Democratic primaries abandon the candidate who does win? Will they clearly see the danger of a second term for our current moron-in-chief and do what is necessary to end our national nightmare now or will they say let him wreck the nation so the “revolution” can begin? I pray everyday for the former.
Willful Ignorance, i.e. the willfully ignorant do not desire to be enlightened, because those who are willfully enlightened, would not and do not support what is going on now. Most of the commenters on this blog, choose to be enlightened and informed because the alternative is boorish, extremely distasteful, classless, socially ignorant, cruel, evil, and antithetical to a free society construct.
By all accounts, if you would/do believe in Scripture at all, you would see that Jesus Christ was a very liberal minded person by his sermon on the mount and other teaching engagements that are recorded/written about. When evangelicals are talking about criminals being anointed because they are doing the Lords work, LOL, they are not abiding by their Christian tenants.
So why then do they have the “damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead” mentality? Firstly, there manipulation of Scripture allows them to be what they really wanted to be all along, authoritarian. When one can convince themselves that they are without flaw, and can use and support the flawed or anti-thesis for what they have also convinced themselves of as a righteous cause, not only is it a psychological/mental illness, but one that is known and practiced as a desire, kind of like the Roman Vomitoriums!
They have hijacked religion now, just as they have throughout history to bludgeon their fellow man/human beings into submission to elevate themselves to a supreme authority. This is nothing that I haven’t mentioned before in comments on this blog, but not discussing the idea that they use Scripture as a permission slip to convince themselves of their superiority and, no matter the cost, do whatever they need to do and say to accomplish their goal, is a mistake.
Adolf Hitler used religion to his benefit, he justified, through his knowledge, that he acquired in religious school as a juvenile/young adult the ideal of superiority of his ethnicity. He was definitely mentally ill, and, he had a severe inferiority complex which caused him to swing unrelentingly towards genocide and Fascistic White Nationalism. Form your own reality, form your own religion, form your own world, it’s easier on the conscience when they can blame it on something else, and, that they are doing the Lords work and therefore it is not evil.
The tendencies were always in the United States, Manifest Destiny, American Exceptionalism, American Romanticism, even Eugenics, all were admired by the German Nazis. What is happening now, as just authorizing those who are so inclined, to use all of the tools in their tool chest to be who they really want to be. It’s not some accident, it’s not a mistake, those believers are not going to relinquish the top of the mountain, at least not relinquish it easily. While everyone was in Rip van Winkle mode, feeling that it could not, would not, happen here, especially after Barack Obama was elected, those individuals allowed the birther movement, the rollback of voters rights, the packing of the courts, and the courtesy of free speech on all matters to go mostly unchallenged, instead of storming the Bastille!
When civil rights that were bought and paid for with blood, toil, tears and sweat, were rolled back that should’ve been flashing Do Not Enter/Wrong Way Marquis, but it wasn’t. It would’ve been nice to catch the perpetrators getting ready to sink the ship before they blew a hole in the bottom of the boat. It’s much harder to bailout the water and repair the hole.
You all are over analyzing it. The vast majority of Trump supporters are just stupid. That’s why they hold ridiculous beliefs and why they support him.
The fact that Americans are trying to tear America down is perhaps incomprehensible. We can struggle to explain it and can’t. I think that most problem solvers would start with, it didn’t used to be this way, then look for what changed between then and now that caused the mass hysteria that we observe.
To my mind that most profound societal change is we’ve gone from mostly entertaining ourselves together to mostly entertaining ourselves alone. Mostly living inside our skin rather than outside of it. Mostly focused on me rather than us. Mostly falling for comfort instead of purpose because we can have comfort now so who wants to return to effort?
That is not a generational thing. In fact arguably, seeing how they were born into it, younger people don’t even notice changes which requires experience with different.
Perhaps the next question should be, is it the media or the message?
Again, to my mind, the answer is clear. It’s the message. It’s not the fact of those hours alone being comfortable, it’s what happens during them in and to and by and presumably for our minds. We learn not real facts but why we should remain in the trap that we built for ourselves. Why we should be satisfied with the status quo even after realizing that it’s a trap.
Also, and again to my mind, the ‘“trap” is not evenly distributed among us. In fact, it’s more prevalent at the ends of several spectrums that define our demographics. It’s not center stage but way more in the wings of all of who we are.
We can’t in any reasonably short time, fix it, perhaps not even fully understand it, but what started the fire is not as urgent as the fact of it and escape from it. If we don’t do that what started it is moot.
Vote. Urge law enforcement to make sure that only qualified people participate. Urge ourselves and our friends and family to make sure that all qualified voters participate. Make sure that the decision who to vote for is informed by fact and not entertainment and entertainers. Spread the word among learners.
Induced mass hysteria is the problem. Democracy is necessary now but not sufficient. The educational/therapy part of the long term solution also takes a long time and it will have to wait.
The good news is that there are still a lot more of “us” than of “them,” and I am sorry to thus classify my fellow citizens in such adversary terms. Some day Trump will be gone but his influence will still be with us among the “thems.” It is as clear as day to me that our task is to go after those in the biggest party of all, the 90 million non-voters who, along with us liberal minded voters, can win big in the election November next. The answer to winning the upper Midwest states is not to use our time, energy and resources in putting down Trump’s cult members, who aren’t listening, but rather to make voters out of non voters on a massive scale.
As my fellow contributors know, I am a broken record on turnout, but before we can have turnout we must have organization that assures turnout. Let’s go after that unwashed horde of voters who are determining our leaders by their inaction. Electoral college and voter suppression tactics aside, the prize is there for the taking. DNC, are you listening?
every reply today has merit.and we talk here as i see,we have been in the former years watching this grow into a fog. the trumpers ive metn with all cliam hes done wonderful things,getting the job done,i love him!!! er,its o.k, if bigotry, ignoranace and strife is the goal.
most are below the age of 50, with majority under 40. ive raised a few eyebrows sending a message,, trumps a wannabe thug,a looser,ask anyone from NYC where he lived. the casino in atlantic city,failed, (nyt 6/11/2016 story) he ransacked the local properties where those who lived there were well into their retirements,bungalows along the beach mostly,many rented out to families during the summer months for beach time. eminate domaine granted by n.j. help force sales and relocate people like a commodity,fact,many of those people worked the ammo plants and did war wark, during ww2,retired,many were forced off their property by trumps greed..if this didnt wake up people by his greed,then the media did a fine job covering or ignoring the true value of his worth… again,media was used to cover crap up,by design,and with a outcome,they know will become the facts..(j,goebbels proud folks).the independant journalist today group wise,(the ones with a track record over decades)protecting the facts,first lines of,history,and keeping a update of,the issues..thanks…check the story out,find a like story,pro or con,read both,and keep it in your mind to keep it freash in conversation. robertreich has been in overdrive lately,but he keeps it simple,and fact based.. i promote this,because i do talk to,the trumpers,everyday..todays above subject,spot on. it is a torrent of hate and stupid,propaganda to read and listen to, and i do,get mad.im watching them distroy our country,democracy,rule of law,our wages and workers rights,civil rights,education,affordable healthcare,and bringing a religious take over of liberty granted by our forefathers..i do admire their looks,when i call trump a wannabe thug,whos just screwed you and your future,and you voted for,him..remember,when your out of money to buy a firearm,ammo,and the corps deem you as a threat,no second ammedment will exist,you voted to change that,you voted for the republican take over machine,enjoy….
I don’t disagree with Ms. Kennedy and the comments so far. I do think we should pull our heads out of the sand and realize “Its the economy stupid” that under-girds Trumps approval ratings, albeit low.
NY Times:
“Employment Surged in Counties That Favored
Trump Most. How Much Credit Does He Deserve?
By QUOCTRUNG BUI JUNE 5, 2019
Job growth has been consistent among counties that voted most strongly for Trump
In places like Montgomery County, Tex., and Pickens County, S.C., which voted for President Trump by more than 45 percentage points in 2016, the job market surged during the first two years of his administration.
Questions remain, though, about how much of the improvement was his doing, and whether the pattern is already in the process of reversing.
Data released Wednesday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that average employment grew by 1.6 percent in 2018 in the 10 percent of places — 1,256 counties — that voted for Mr. Trump most strongly.”
Since then (June), employment rates have improved and unemployment rates are at an all time low. Let’s also not forget real wages have seen some movement upward for the middle class and 52% of Americans own stock in a surging stock market.
Trump has done this through massive deregulation, irresponsible fiscal policy, and tax giveaways (mostly to the rich). I think its all going to be ultimately disastrous, but if it holds until November… woe is me!
Pete, you posted: “The fact that Americans are trying to tear America down is perhaps incomprehensible. We can struggle to explain it and can’t.”
Allow me to interject. The followers of President Agent Orange and Pastor Pence do truly believe in MAGA. They are trying to tear down the America they fear, which in their fevered hallucinations is godless, or the not following their god.
When Mark Galli’s editorial in “Christianity Today” appeared the usual Evangelical Stooges slammed Galli and defended President Agent Orange.
I will readily admit I am not bible expert. I do not believe Jesus ever said by word or deed the ends justify the means, in other words evil corrupt men, do evil corrupt things.
None of us are perfect – The mountain of President Agent Orange’s lies and abject cruelty should out weigh anything. Sadly for the 1% who had their pockets lined by a huge tax cut or the Male Authoritarian Religious types, they are profoundly indifferent to the lies and abject cruelty.
Hard to add much today….one more candle to the sad 2019 Menorah…
Believe that there is much feeling among Americans that government is not serving the “common good”. There is clearly at least as much WFA as in the past – we read about billions in Medicaid fraud by the MIC nearly monthly, etc. after the the FIC got away with 2008 unscathed and helped out. All after being piled on by Watergate, the Vietnam War, the failure of the “wars” on poverty, drugs, etc. The ignoring of massive deficits….and on and on.
Is this anyway to run….a country?
So, as history shows so well, when discouragement with government and the fear of things beyond our control (terrorism, massive refugee movements, loss of privacy, scary technology like AI and gene altering, etc. people turn toward STRONG appearing leaders/”star quarterbacks” for our team that appear to have the ability to steamroll (and fix) everything that we worry about…
At the risk of being drawn and quartered here….it is not a lot different for those who rage for Bernie assuming he will snap his fingers and inequality, poverty and justice will appear.
Thought: Would it, under any circumstances, be prudent to send, what would be considered Sheila’s “best” article to everyone on our list? It would somehow be prefaced with: If you are a Trumpster, here is your opportunity to let everyone know “why” it’s important to reelect Donald Trump? In my thinking, MAYBE they would read Sheila’s comments and see that responders are acknowledged and that they too will be acknowledged. It possibly could make them THINK which is what is necessary. Certainly, some are hopeless but, at least, the literate may rethink their position. Hope springs eternal.
Donald Key Hotee, an actual descendant of Francis Scott Key, is an alternate reality buff. He says he voted for Trump. I grew up with him. I’ve watched this guy grow old. I’ve observed his turn against reality, fact, and reason. But he takes issue with me when I accuse him of hating facts and reasonableness.
“I don’t hate facts; facts hate me. I don’t hate reason; reason hates me. All my life, reality and its damn facts has tore me down. Gotten in my way. Set up road blocks. Reason and reasonable people has defeated everything I try to do. Okay; they have made a choice. Facts want to be my enemy, well, two can play that game.
“I’ve learned that when I talk about religion, facts lose their power. Reasonable people get frustrated, almost get physically sick. I may not win, but I don’t lose.
“When I talk about conspiracies, and there are a lot of them, reasonable elites go bonkers. It’s only things like that that I can win at.
“You take what don’t crush you and learn to love it. “Deep state; that’s my favorite. Even a lot of elites agrees with me. Deep state stuff is like a dating service; it connects me with lots of friendly folks out there that, like me, don’t have too friendly a relationship with facts.
“And those murders Hillary done; they may not be liberal-lovin’ fact, but they sure make me lots of friends.
“I print and sell T-shirts, and none of them say nothing factual. Every one of them’s a lie. But them lies been good to me. I make more money with them lies in a year than I made with facts my whole life. None of them lies ever gets in my way; never fights me; they’re my only friend. Printing them lies on T-shirts is like printing money.
“Far as I’m concerned, lies is not a bad thing. Lies is a equalizer. Lies take sides with me, not against me. Lies is like a god that really, really thinks people are equal. And lies does what’s necessary to equal things out just like a god would that actually listens to people.
“A lot of this I kind of did on instinct, but Trump has put a real philosophic understanding beneath it all. A lot of us know what life’s all about now, because of Trump. To me and my new friends, Trump is the guru that enlightened us. If he said he could walk on water, I might not believe it, but I’d know what he meant. It’s just another way to worship the one power that gets results–the all-powerful lie.”
Larry – one of the scariest posts of the year. A very SAD testament to the feeling of powerlessness that permeates our country (and much of the world). If I don’t have power or recognition, I will identify as the follower of one I perceive to….Kim K, T. Brady, etc.
Donald Key Hotee (Don Quixote)? Ummm, not!
Larry I do believe that you’ve captured the emotions that have those who are trapped in the media induced mass hysteria we observe unable to break free.
That Donald Key Hotee stuff brought this to mind: Two friends took in strays at their place nearby—dogs, cats, and even a donkey. The friends fed and cared for all their strays and even gave them names. The donkey’s name was, of course, Odie. He was Donkey Odie, but you had already guessed that, hadn’t you? That story was actually real, and my friends recently moved to Taos after finding homes for their beloved strays, including Odie! Happy Holidays, everyone!
I have known for a long time that Trump is seriously mentally ill. Mental health professionals say that his narcissistic personality disorder is due to emotional traumas that arose early in his life, and which cause him to lack any semblance of empathy for anyone. It has been reported that his father, Fred Trump (Freidrich Drumpft) strongly favored his namesake, Fred, Jr., who died of alcoholism, over his other children. Allegedly, due to jealousy, Trump used to tell his brother that he was a loser, and otherwise insult and degrade him right to his face. Allegedly, very recently, he was quoted as saying that maybe he shouldn’t have done this, and that his drubbing of his brother might have made his drinking problem worse. He is only saying that MAYBE this wasn’t a good thing to do. He would never, and could never, admit he was wrong, much less take responsibility for his conduct or take steps to change. His illness prevents this, and that’s one big difference between this impeachment and that of Bill Clinton, who expressed genuine remorse for lying over his conduct with Monica Lewinski. However, Clinton’s lying about his sexcapades did not have national security implications. No head of state ever laughed out loud at Bill Clinton, either. Clinton rose from poverty to become a Rhodes Scholar, governor and then President, due to his talent and intelligence. Trump is the spoiled child of a wealthy slum lord, a serial bankrupter of businesses who had to turn to reality TV to sell his persona as a multi billionaire when he couldn’t get any more loans.
Some small part of me occasionally feels sorry for Trump. While he brags, blusters and lies, down deep inside he is hurting. He only wanted the presidency because it is the most powerful job in the world, an opportunity for ultra aggrandizement, rubbing elbows with the most-powerful people on the planet, but, deep down inside, even he knows he sucks at it. Immediately after “the victory”, there were protest marches all over the country. I was in one of them. His tender ego requires him to lie about having the biggest inauguration crowd in history. He won’t admit the names or numbers of celebrity performers who refused to appear at his inaugural balls. Bill Clinton had some of the biggest names in entertainment.
Because he doesn’t have any real friends he can trust, he has to appoint Ivanka and Jared as advisors. His is the most chaotic administration in U.S. history, with an historic number of turnovers of key positions. He cannot accept advice from anyone because this is a tacit admission that he isn’t the most-powerful, omniscient, all-knowing, intelligent being on the planet. In 3 + years, he has never achieved even a 50% approval rating, and that is historic.
OK, that’s his excuse, but what are the excuses of the Republicans and Evangelicals? IMHO, Republicans know they are losing ground, so they cheat to get and keep power: cheat to get power by gerrymandering and voter suppression, and allow Trump to cheat to keep it. It’s actually OK with them that Russia helped get Trump into the White House, and Moscow Mitch McConnell refuses to bring the election security bill passed by the House ages ago for a vote. This bill would help prevent Russians or others from tampering with our elections. What’s wrong with Republicans? Do they want power so much that they support a president who not only cheated to get into the White House, but is cheating to try to stay, all with the help of foreign governments.
What about Evangelicals? Are they willing to support the most-incompetent politician in in history in order to force their beliefs on other people? How is that no immoral?
Larry – you’ve out done yourself today with Donald Key Hotee . TOOOOO good.
Okay. I am usually more verbose. Republican characteristics since 1854: Write our rules. Do not compromise in 1860 , or ever after (except 1965 Cuvil Rights and 1974 telling Nixon to go). The kid who cheated or just took the ball and went. Party membership indicated being a chosen one, elite predestined and unaccountable for methods or transgressions. Only party to impeach presidents. Both for political purpose. Now resisting and corrupting the first just impeachment. Bigotry, corruption(old tradition going back to transcontinental railroad) . The government is a mine to be pillaged by the rich and paid for by the poor and shrinking middle class. Hangers on who identify as elite fellow travelers of the rich as the scavage wood or lumps and of lumps of coal to heat their shanty. Cultist drinking the kook aid. No way understand incarnate evil.
Trump clearly is the “chosen one” he was chosen by the devil and is doing a very good job of coning the true believers. Please pass this on to every “christian” site that supports him.
Larry,
I didn’t grow up with your friend but knew him as well. He told me he voted for Trump because,
“In order to attain the impossible, one must attempt the absurd.”
John