The Atlantic: Donald Trump Is a Broken Man

[CousinIT]

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/07/trump-wallowing-self-pity/614434/

The most revealing answer from Donald Trump’s interview with Fox News Channel’s Chris Wallace came in response not to the toughest question posed by Wallace, but to the easiest.

At the conclusion of the interview, Wallace asked Trump how he will regard his years as president.

“I think I was very unfairly treated,” Trump responded. “From before I even won, I was under investigation by a bunch of thieves, crooks. It was an illegal investigation.”

When Wallace interrupted, trying to get Trump to focus on the positive achievements of his presidency—“What about the good parts, sir?”—Trump brushed the question aside, responding, “Russia, Russia, Russia.” The president then complained about the Flynn investigation, the “Russia hoax,” the “Mueller scam,” and the recusal by his then–attorney general, Jeff Sessions. (“Now I feel good because he lost overwhelmingly in the great state of Alabama,” Trump said about the first senator to endorse him in the 2016 Republican primary.)

Donald Trump is a psychologically broken, embittered, and deeply unhappy man. He is so gripped by his grievances, such a prisoner of his resentments, that even the most benevolent question from an interviewer—what good parts of your presidency would you like to be remembered for?—triggered a gusher of discontent.

But the president still wasn’t done. “Here’s the bottom line,” he said. “I’ve been very unfairly treated, and I don’t say that as paranoid. I’ve been very—everybody says it. It’s going to be interesting to see what happens. But there was tremendous evidence right now as to how unfairly treated I was. President Obama and Biden spied on my campaign. It’s never happened in history. If it were the other way around, the people would be in jail for 50 years right now.”

[TreasonousBastard]

1. Pathetic. How did this mess of delusions and insecurities become President?

[KS Toronado]

14. Russian propaganda, trolls, hacking, pee pee tape

[Thomas Hurt]

2. "psychologically broken, embittered, and deeply unhappy man" He was that way when he took office.

[Srkdqltr]

3. He keeps going back to spying in his campaign as if it was against the law.

I don't understand why. I'm sure he had people inside Hillary Clinton's campaign. Spying.

[They_Live]

18. Yes. And I'm pretty sure spying on campaigns

has happened before "in history". Probably every election since the beginning of time. It's when you get caught doing something you should have told the FBI about, but didn't, when it turns into a huge mess.

[lpbk2713]

4. Sorry to disagree --- He never was a man.

Trump was a poseur.

[Wounded Bear]

5. You'd think he could remember the good things, there are so few of them...

[CaptYossarian]

11. Not even kidnapped children in cages could make him smile.

[musclecar6]

6. What

A fucking national disgrace. If ever there was somebody who should be voted out of office, it's him.

[Towlie]

7. I fear a scorched earth policy if and when Trump DOES accept defeat.

Before Trump is finally booted out of office he may do everything in his power to make Joe Biden's job of repairing the damage as difficult as possible.

Also, whether in office or not, Trump will still have his base. Trump needs to be sent to a prison where there's no access to Twitter.

[Fritz Walter]

17. That'd be a good time for Article 25

4. Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President.

Source: https://usconstitution.net/xconst_Am25.html

The last paragraph contains this language:

Thereafter, when the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written declaration that no inability exists, he shall resume the powers and duties of his office unless the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive department or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit within four days to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office. Thereupon Congress shall decide the issue, assembling within forty eight hours for that purpose if not in session. If the Congress, within twenty one days after receipt of the latter written declaration, or, if Congress is not in session, within twenty one days after Congress is required to assemble, determines by two thirds vote of both Houses that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall continue to discharge the same as Acting President; otherwise, the President shall resume the powers and duties of his office.

Emphasis added.

[Ferrets are Cool]

8. He might be broken, but that just makes him more fucking dangerous

A cornered animal, especially a rabid one, can be deadly.

[FM123]

9. Every day in all kinds of ways, he weaponizes his misery against us.

Donald Trump is a psychologically broken, embittered, and deeply unhappy man. He is so gripped by his grievances, such a prisoner of his resentments.

[cp]

10. That's it, exactly

[bucolic_frolic]

12. Nonsense. All candidates are vetted one way or another. A Sovereign state protects itself

from incompetence, crooks, foreign agents. Trump gave them plenty of reason to question, if he was listening to himself.

[iluvtennis]

13. trump couldn't respond positively because he's done nothing for the common people - NOTHING. nt

[Chainfire]

15. Trump could not identify any success in his presidency

Try as I might, tying to be honest, neither can I. Failures demand excuses; Trumps is that he has been unfairly persecuted.

We have had nearly four years of bouncing from one drama to another, one lie to the next, we have seen the worst level of ignorance, dishonesty, disloyalty, incompetence and criminal behavior known in our history. We just have to hope that the mishandling of the Covid disaster is the worst issue of the Trump presidency, he still has time to do something even worse. If Trump is defeated, it would be his sick impulse to take the government and the people down with him, much as Hitler did at the end.

He is a sick man, with a lot of sick followers.

[TygrBright]

16. He always has been. This is "new"? n/t

[hibbing]

19. Poor guy just can't get a break n/t

[Danascot]

20. Whiny snowflake

like many of his base.

(Base - adjective

Not showing any honor and having no morals:

I accused him of having base motives.

Cambridge Dictionary)

[llmart]

21. Well, cry me a river you freakin' snowflake.

Maybe now you'll see what Hillary went through her entire career in DC.

Hillary has more courage, stamina, resilience AND votes than this whiny narcissist.

[Stuart G]

22. Thank You for posting this..Says a lot about Donald Trump..(ain't pretty)

[yaesu]

23. actually he has made hundreds of millions off the presidency, as far as being mentally broken

he lives for this reality show crap, he is incapable of caring about anything, he lives to destroy things.

[Caliman73]

28. He is broken...the statement stems from what the typical range of human emotions is.

Are you saying that living for revenge, holding on to grievances, and not being capable of caring about anything are not signs of being broken?

Are you saying that because he has made money, and because he has oriented himself toward constant fighting and grievance, that he is a well adjusted human being?

He is not enjoying himself. He is not confident. He is not happy. It is easy to see from his behavior. He never laughs, never cries (that we know of), and never seems to be at peace. Compare Trump to President Obama, or Clinton, hell, even W. Bush. While Bush was not a good President and arguably not a really good person, he still had a normal range of emotions. We saw him laugh. We saw him showing sympathy and empathy for people. Bush was a spoiled frat boy. Trump is a sociopath. He is broken. Just because he lives in and functions in his disordered, distorted reality, does not mean that he gets any joy or satisfaction from it.

I am having some real difficulties in aspects of my life right now, but if some one asked me what I would like to be remembered for, if someone asked me to talk about something "good" in my life, I could name about a hundred things that I am thankful for and that are positive in my life. I would not go on a rant about how "unfairly I have been treated" because I am not broken.

[MasonDreams]

24. Notable, I thought is that he feels entitled to jail them for 50 years.

Hypothetically, a crime 3-5 or a 5-10 can just be bumped to 50? And you can "order" " illegals" to work your russian roulette slaughter houses and food packing plants.
Sorry, I just can't NOT say something, but as soon as I open my eyes it's a nightmare. Nap time.

[pandr32]

25. He's incapable of introspection

No way is he able to evaluate anything other than 'good for ME' or 'bad for ME'. Black and white thinking (and in his case it's a double entendre) from a two-dimensional villain.

[NCjack]

26. Good. He is a jerk who injected misery into lives of most people he has encountered in life.

[colorado_ufo]

27. "was tremendous evidence right now"

makes no temporal sense. Past and present muddle together in this guy's brain.

[LudwigPastorius]

29. "Donald Trump is a psychologically broken, embittered, and deeply unhappy man."

Excellent.

[usaf-vet]

30. For me i will always picture him as the pile of S**T deposited on one of the steps into the WH.

The pile of s**t the doesn't belong there but seems like it going to stay until sane people take back the WH.

[GopherGal]

32. Post Turtle

"When you're driving down a country road and you see a fence post with a turtle balanced on top, that's a post turtle. You know he didn't get up there by himself. He doesn't belong there; you wonder who put him there; he can't get anything done while he's up there; and you just want to help the poor, dumb thing down."

[link:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post_turtle|]

Except in this instance, I have trouble with the sympathy for the poor dumb thing.

[VA_Jill]

31. Yeah, and

he's managed to break the whole damn country. I do not feel one freaking bit sorry for him. Too bad, so sad. GFY, Donny.