I keep thinking about the question that led to the downfall of McCarthy and McCarthyism–at long last, sir, have you no sense of decency?
I doubt that Donald Trump could spell decency, much less define it, but I think there’s another, related question we might pose–although we know the answer: at long last, sir, have you no sense of shame?
I recently looked into the concept of shame and its social utility. It turns out that the ability to feel shame is an essential element of what psychologists and psychiatrists call “pro-social behavior.” It prevents people from damaging their social relationships and reputations, and it warns one of social ostracism or disapproval. Feelings of shame motivate individuals to conform to group norms and expectations, and that helps members of a society function cooperatively.
Although shame can also be toxic, in its healthy form it serves as a natural mechanism for self-control and social regulation, and promotes a shared sense of values and expectations for behavior.
As we learn daily, Donald Trump and his cast of incompetent clowns and sycophants are incapable of feeling shame or even of experiencing its dimmer cousin, embarrassment. In the wake of one of the most recent exhibitions of Trump’s detachment from reality, Lincoln Square ran an article bemoaning the fact that Trump isn’t simply embarrassing himself, he’s embarrassing America.
The author of that article, Kristoffer Ealy, wrote,
Every time I see a headline or a YouTube video that says, “Trump embarrasses himself by…” it irks me a little. Not because Trump doesn’t make a fool of himself — he always does — but because is it even possible for him to get embarrassed? Embarrassment requires self-awareness. It requires an understanding of social standards, the recognition that you’ve fallen short of them, and the capacity to cringe at yourself.
Trump doesn’t express any of these traits. He barrels through life like a man who believes the world is his open mic, and the crowd is obligated to applaud no matter how stale the jokes are. Embarrassment implies an internal governor that makes you stop and think, “Oh, maybe I shouldn’t have said that.” Trump is missing that chip. He is an indictment on the United States of America, and not just as a president but as a mirror of the worst parts of us — anti-intellectualism, cruelty as entertainment, and the delusion that bluster equals brilliance.
Ealy wasn’t even writing about the latest embarrassment–Trump’s rambling and incredibly inappropriate speech to an assembly of American military leaders. He was reacting to the equally senile and unselfaware word-salad delivered to representatives at the United Nations, which he characterized as “bad improv with nuclear weapons.”
The first gem was his declaration that other nations are going to hell. That’s not analysis; that’s Shao Kahn from Mortal Kombat mixed with Jimmy Swaggart. If the goal was to sound like a dictator moonlighting as a televangelist, mission accomplished. He said it with the same flourish that Swaggart used to beg for donations, except instead of promising salvation he was predicting damnation. Imagine sitting in that room as a world leader and hearing the U.S. president channel both an arcade boss fight and a disgraced preacher. That’s not foreign policy—it’s fan fiction written by a crank.
Then came his insistence that climate change is a hoax. This is where roasting almost feels too easy, because it’s not just dumb — it’s dangerous. Trump is proof of how far the Republican Party has fallen. I would never call George W. Bush a champion for climate action, but even Bush had the baseline sense to acknowledge that climate change exists.
That embarrassing performance has been eclipsed by the more recent–and more shameful–display to America’s military leadership. (The overall reaction to both Trump and Hegseth was summed up in an Atlantic headline: “Hundreds of Generals Try to Keep a Straight Face.”)
Trump’s obvious inability to understand when he is making a fool of himself, his utter imperviousness to feelings of shame or embarrassment, are indicators–according to the psychiatric literature–of psychological conditions like narcissism and psychopathy. An inability to feel shame also accompanies a lack of empathy and a lack of self-awareness.
That lack of self-awareness must also be a characteristic of Trump voters, who evidently view his ongoing clown show and decline with equanimity, and seem perfectly okay with his demonstrable inability to govern, not to mention his destruction of America’s global status…
They’re shameful.
Your last two paragraphs sum up Trump perfectly! His parents must have helped instill those values as well.
Living in Chicago and witnessing his ICE army is frightening and reminiscent of Hitler’s Gestapo.
Yesterday I learned that Chicago police officers are receiving letters offering them “ positions eith ICE with their same pay and benefits! Trump is forming his personal army. Very frightening.
If anybody is forming a Gestapo-like enforcer, it would be Stephen Miller, since he is a Neo-Nazi. Trump is a narcissistic sociopath, so he has no conscience. I have never had one, and from what I’ve read about his parents, his father was likely the same way. Many politicians in Washington, as well as CEOs, share the same diagnosis. It helps them thrive in a world of corruption where a conscience is a hindrance.
I always thought shame was an external condition. People can shame you, but guilt was an internal condition. Most narcissists have gigantic egos, so any criticism feels like a death threat. When asked a tricky question that forces him to think or tell the truth, he immediately attacks the person. “How dare you shame the Emperor!”
Does Trump care about genocide? No.
Does Trump care about who is on those Venezuelan boats? No.
Does Trump care about the immigrant kids he’s damaging? No.
Does Trump care about the people he’s hurting by firing them? No.
As we recently discussed, he doesn’t care, and when it reflects poorly on him via data, such as unemployment figures, he manipulates the numbers.
And, if you haven’t caught on yet, the “MAGA” motto is really about making Trump wealthy again. He figures that if he’s helping all the oligarchs become rich, he deserves to restore his own wealth as well.
For those of you who have X accounts, get over there and read where the right-wingers are heading. I do believe they will have a Civil War before they attack the left-wingers. What’s hilarious to watch is the meltdown they are having over Bari Weiss (staunch Zionist) becoming CBS’s new CEO. They apparently thought CBS was a legitimate news agency before she took the helm.
Those phrases should be directed at our Congress. Don’t expect the current cabinet will try to invoke the 25th Amendment. They’re Trump’s everlasting sycophants. Only Congress will have enough power to get the job done… IF THEY GROW A SPINE and fulfill the concept of ‘Representative’ government. Thank you for your attention to this. THE WHOLE WORLD IS WATCHING.
Todd. Did you.mean to say you have never had a conscience?
Of course Trump is a psychopath. He has been one of those for decades. Read Michael Cohen’s books.
The real disappointment in my country is the fact that around 24% think his utter insanity, grift and national embarrassment is okay. That’s one in four American citizens who love getting permission to be assholes, liars, cheats, hate-mongers and all the rest. We haven’t just lost our decency, we’ve lost our civilization.
Add murder without evidence to the list. Attacking those Venezuelan boats without a shred of evidence is just plain murder. Then, our “leadership” doesn’t give a shit about that. Yeah. MAGA. Nice work voters.
The first person to ask Trump, “Have you no decency?” was the Gold Star father who lost his son who was subjected to Trump’s shaming of that son being a “sucker and a fool” for going to war for this nation. Trump has made a full war declaration ON THIS NATION FROM WITHIN and is turning our own troops against his. How are they feeling about the lack of decency they are forced to uphold with approval to use violence against other Americans?
“I doubt that Donald Trump could spell decency, much less define it, but I think there’s another, related question we might pose–although we know the answer: at long last, sir, have you no sense of shame?”
The current shameless government body cannot be shamed. I wore my “FUCK TRUMP” tee shirt during the campaign but have the good sense not to wear it through my armed MAGA neighborhood these days. I do wear my 2006 “STOP THE WAR” tee shirt with the large red, bloody handprint on the front, my President Barack Obama tee shirtS and my “HOMELAND SECURITY…FIGHTING TERRORISM SINCE 1492” with the picture of Native Americans tee shirts these days and my “For the love of God, ANYONE BUT TRUMP 2024” yard sign is still in my front flowerbed. My messages are lost on most people but for the few who understand and agree, they know they are not the only ones aware of our national and global embarrassing and shameful position today.
Sadly, this seems to beg repeating, but this Malignant Narcissist has no redeeming human qualities, is a mix of anti-social P.D, and more; knows no bounds, does not care, period.
He is a huge embarrassment, and a pawn.
Sharon, sometimes Grammarly gets a bit too creative with its corrections. I have a hyper-conscience, which is a real drag sometimes. 🙂
is there a award,opposite of the Noble? theres a real winner in America who has gained the highest award of such.. well, actully, theres a whole dirty white house full of em… the heritage foundation should get the group prize for distroying a government,democracy and the working class..the ice capades could get a sounding ribbon for brutality
Back in 2016 when I was still working, the group of guys I went to lunch with had a guy that claimed his lack of filter usually got him in trouble. He also said he was going to vote for Trump for “the entertainment factor” it would bring to the government. This guy was college educated, in his 30’s with a family, but he was strong 2nd Amendment supporter and while it never came up directly, he was involved in an evangelical church, so likely, pro-life. He lived outside of Marion county in a very white upper middle class suburb. He was always up on the news but got it all from his preferred sources on the Internet, so most likely had never read a newspaper in his life.
I suspect he is still happy with his choice in 2016 and most likely voted for Trump two more times. I hope he likes his “entertainment”.
One of your best, Sheila. It breaks my heart to see what he is doing to us internationally. We used to be a beacon of hope, and now, we’re a beacon of greed and destruction. As long as he, and his minions, are in charge, it is not going to change. Can any of us imagine what it would be like to have him as a father? Maybe HIS father would be proud of him? So sad and frightening. Am so concerned for my kids, their kids and THEIR kids someday. Maybe they will choose to live in other countries, if those countries will accept them.
The effects of the neo-nazi coup on the US’s global power, authority, and moral leadership (“leader of the Free World”) will be permanent. Big changes were coming anyway, with the looming nat’l debt crisis and the rise of China, but it’s simply stunning how quickly the coup-plotters and their useful fool, The Rump, have brought down the temple. No nation will ever trust our country again, simply because we have betrayed and denigrated our erstwhile allies and shown fatal flaws in our systems of governance. These words from the Declaration of Independence pop into mind almost every day: “together we pledge our lives, our fortunes, our sacred honor” to free America from English tyranny. Where are such courageous people today? Those who could counter this insanity instead cower and bow before the worst federal leadership in US history. I fear we are burnt toast.
“I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States.” I’ve been thinking about this oath of office for some time and I think I’ve found the problem. It only requires a President to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution to best of his ability. We know now that Orange Jesus lacks any ability to perform any of these three functions. He also lacks the capacity to faithfully execute anything, especially the office of the? President.
Life evolved into humans eventually. Since then, we have been subjugating the Earth and all of its other life forms. With not enough productive things left to do, we have begun subjugating other members of our species.
Human knowledge far exceeds what each of us knows. While that should foster collaboration, the opposite has occurred. Our connection to the world has become increasingly virtual, with much of it dominated by advertising, and the rest leading to us spending more time on screens and less time with friends and family.
It turns out that progress and unchecked capitalism can lead to dysfunction, and Trump, here and now, is a symptom of that plight.
Now what?
Every one of us should be paying attention to Brene Brown on shame. She is a shame researcher. Books, audio books and if you aren’t ambitious enough to read or listen, watch her Ted Talks
Shame, does more than keeping us for embarrasiing ourselves. It keeps us in line. Why did so many women in the fifties and sixties stay at home, raise kids, and keep house? Because they were shamed for doing anything else. Why are so many men terrified of being gentle, caring, emotionally sensitive and connected? Becaused they have been shamed for showing any emotions but anger and humor (often hurtful humor, which is actually not funny at all, but bullying). Shame is the glue that holds men locked only in the the masculine, and women locked only in the femininein order to keep tine patriarchal system going. Ever noticed how most women understand what’s going on better than the men, and that the men who do understand what’s going on have learned to be unafraid of being sensitive and caring? The feminine informs us of what is going on in the world. And being informed about what is going SHOULD BE guiding that actions and power of the masculine.
Excellent column. The man is promoted by the Thiels of the world with Project 2025 and Putin. The evil Weeble is truly soulless. They will all have such a leg up after he is gone I hope we can recover. Maybe with the right leadership and if we can get big money out of politics things can turn around. Those are some high hopes. Bring back the good. Bring back the defenders. Bring back some honesty (especially in media). What are the odds that the military could have a coup and lock him and his sycophants up? I know, be careful what you wish for but it seems our paths for bringing back our better America are narrowing by the minute.
Thank you Sheila. Perhaps if we could make shame something which appears to have a high value (which of course it does) The President and others would attempt to acquire some of it as more people are seemingly to find it valuable.
Shamwxallows us to journey into self knowledge and understanding with which we then are able to choose to pethaps change how we engage in our world.
And I agree with Anne about Brene Brown.
Thank you all for adding this aspect of human interaction to the consideration of those who are wielding power overcome many.