General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsWaPo: There is something very wrong with Donald Trump
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/there-is-something-very-wrong-with-donald-trump/2016/08/01/73809c72-57fe-11e6-831d-0324760ca856_story.html#comments
By Robert Kagan August 1 at 3:51 PM
Robert Kagan is a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and a contributing columnist for The Post.
"One wonders if Republican leaders have begun to realize that they may have hitched their fate and the fate of their party to a man with a disordered personality. We can leave it to the professionals to determine exactly what to call it. Suffice to say that Donald Trumps response to the assorted speakers at the Democratic National Convention has not been rational.
Why denigrate the parents of a soldier who died serving his country in Iraq? And why keep it going for four days? Why assail the record of a decorated general who commanded U.S. forces in Afghanistan? Why make fun of the stature of a popular former mayor of New York? Surely Trump must know that at any convention, including his own, people get up and criticize the opposition partys nominee. They get their shots in, just as your party got its shots in. And then you move on to the next phase of the campaign. You dont take a crack at every single person who criticized you. And you especially dont pick fights that you cant possibly win, such as against a grieving Gold Star mother or a general. Its simply not in your interest to do so.
The fact that Trump could not help himself, that he clearly did, as he said, want to hit everyone who spoke against him at the Democratic convention, suggests that there really is something wrong with the man. It is not just that he is incapable of empathy. It is not just that he feels he must respond to every criticism he receives by attacking and denigrating the critic, no matter how small or inconsequential. If you are a Republican, the real problem, and the thing that ought to keep you up nights as we head into the final 100 days of this campaign, is that the man cannot control himself. He cannot hold back even when it is manifestly in his interest to do so. Whats more, his psychological pathologies are ultimately self-destructive. (Disclosure: I was a guest speaker at a fundraiser for Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton last month; I have no role with her campaign.)
Trump is, in this respect, unlike a normal politician. A normal politician knows that no matter how much criticism gets under the skin, the thing to do is to smile and wave it off. You dont have to mean it. You dont even have to appear to mean it. But it is what you do, if only to avoid compounding the damage. Trump cannot make this simple self-serving calculation. He must attack everyone who opposes him, even after he has defeated them. He must continue talking about Texas Sen. Ted Cruzs father, even after Cruz has thrown in the towel. He must humiliate New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, even after Christie has lain down before him."...(more)
Cooley Hurd
(26,877 posts)Drumpf is toast...
Nitram
(22,803 posts)...turning on Trump in print.
dubyadiprecession
(5,711 posts)Koinos
(2,792 posts)And only nuts or fools will vote for him.
However, that comes to about 35% of the voting population.
AllyCat
(16,189 posts)They believe people get free stuff and that our country is as bat$hit crazy as the Donald says it is. I'm at a loss for words.
Mary Mac
(323 posts)Condolences
AllyCat
(16,189 posts)and is perpetually armchair diagnosing everyone. The other, is well, one the previous person has "diagnosed" with narcissistic personality disorder. Takes one to know one?
Nitram
(22,803 posts)That's the way to do it. Don't give him a label that only a professional can properly bestow. Just describe in detail his pathological behavior.
Hekate
(90,708 posts)Don't attempt to diagnose the problem employee; just describe the behavior and its consequences.
Then fire the bastard.
Ooops, was that my out-loud voice again?
liberal N proud
(60,335 posts)That is a symptom of his mental disorder. He needs help and no one is going to give it.
We can't let someone with this problem become President.
Cracklin Charlie
(12,904 posts)Tilting at windmills.
Chiquitita
(752 posts)...just to add to the list of what he lacks.
Android3.14
(5,402 posts)While laughing at Quixote's foolish delusions, you also admired him.
Trump's more like the raging asshole at the party.
awoke_in_2003
(34,582 posts)I'm looking forward to it
safeinOhio
(32,687 posts)I'd be shocked if it didn't.
localroger
(3,627 posts)63splitwindow
(2,657 posts)TheOther95Percent
(1,035 posts)Nixon - as he was operating in an era before social media - actually created an Enemies List. Trump just posts tweets about his supposed enemies on twitter. And we know what became of Richard Nixon...
jberryhill
(62,444 posts)Yes. He was elected president twice.
TheOther95Percent
(1,035 posts)Pluvious
(4,311 posts)awoke_in_2003
(34,582 posts)Trump is a fucking idiot.
FSogol
(45,488 posts)Trump shares that quality.
unblock
(52,243 posts)he has surrounded himself with sycophants and an image of himself he has come to believe.
he's the best, he's a winner, he's incredibly rich, he's got the midas touch, and he had this tv show where people clawed all over each other trying desperately to win his approval and get the chance to work for him.
in his world, he has, for the bulk of his life, been treated as the closest thing to a god we have.
but in the world of politics, suddenly people are calling him on lies! they're not constantly sucking up to him! they're challenging him! and even insulting him! how dare they!
he simply can't process this, he doesn't have the background to handle anything other than grovelling yesmen. the only way he knows how to handle people who don't treat him regally is to fire them. but he can't do that now, so he reverts to playground taunts, which was probably the last time he felt anyone seriously questioned his exalted status in this world.
Doodley
(9,092 posts)oswaldactedalone
(3,491 posts)I wish this was better understood by many more.
smirkymonkey
(63,221 posts)LuckyLib
(6,819 posts)to actually call him out on his behavior.
Buns_of_Fire
(17,180 posts)Push him until he cracks. Then squash him squishy. No mercy.
madokie
(51,076 posts)break 'm. Send him to the nut house where he rightly belongs
malaise
(269,026 posts)tosh
(4,423 posts)Wellstone ruled
(34,661 posts)publishing a retort to the Republican Party and their antics and endorsements. Simply put,you own this train wreck,now live with it.
Liberal_Stalwart71
(20,450 posts)Buckeye_Democrat
(14,855 posts)He gets upset about a public statement made by Putin, and thus decides a nuclear strike is appropriate.
All it takes is the code from him and the one from his appointed Secretary of Defense. Trump could appoint Sarah Palin as far as we know!
ToxMarz
(2,168 posts)I think someone should be redesigning that thing right know to make sure he can't, just in case
oswaldactedalone
(3,491 posts)Mr. Khan called Trump a "snake oil salesman." How perfect. That is one admirable man and American.
unitedwethrive
(1,997 posts)Old and In the Way
(37,540 posts)He'll forget about Clinton and run against this Gold Star father. GOOD LUCK Donald!
renie408
(9,854 posts)Doodley
(9,092 posts)Most spoiled little brats grow out of it. They grow up and face the real, hard world and realize that when they act like bullies, other people don't like them, when they act like assholes, other people laugh at them. It might have made them feel powerful, but as they develop a self-awareness, they discover that always getting their own way by walking over others makes them unpopular.
Even Donald Trump. A lonely man has to create invisible friends like John Barron to make himself feel good about himself. He has to fantasize that droves of Sanders supporters are flocking to him. He has to cling onto opinion polls and stand in front of huge audiences to feel good. He has to tell himself he is popular. He has to boast about his wealth and his "success."
Why? Because he doesn't like the way people have treated him all his life. He is thin-skinned and cannot tolerate any criticism. He sounds brash. He sounds tough, but every criticism is like a knife wound. He has to fight back, because he always has to prove to himself his own self-worth, because he KNOWS he is a little shit.
He has always been a little shit and always will be. After the election, when nearly all the spineless Republican establishment blame Trump and his businesses are crumbling from damage to him brand, he will go into a room on his own and feel even more lonely and think about all those gun owners who take their own lives when they hit rock bottom. Maybe he will do what disgraced gentlemen used to do, and pick up the gun and end his pathetic life. If so, millions will say good riddance to bad rubbish.
My daughter is in third grade.
We never initiated any conversations with her about the election, but sometime in April or May she asked me, "Is Trump going to be President?"
Turns out the kids at school actually were talking about it (and I do remember being in elementary school while Nixon was running and thinking WTF is wrong with all these kids who like Nixon, I mean, I knew he was a POS even in first grade, seriously).
Anyways, she hates Trump, and, no lie, THAT boy, the kid in her class who lives up the street that is an absolute menace, has been since they started riding the bus, THAT kid, who is the bully in the class, he is a Trump kid.
Bernardo de La Paz
(49,002 posts)Claims that, after studying there, he knows more about military than most US soldiers.
nolabear
(41,984 posts)According to an article I read a while ago, little Donald, sent to military school at about thirteen, literally arrived unable to do anything for himself. He'd been waited on, was spoiled and utterly unprepared. He got clobbered. A lot. But, smart little critter that he is, he learned not only to be the most spit and polish cadet, he became the bully who tortured the other newbies when they made mistakes.
Honestly, that's just about all I need to know.
KittyWampus
(55,894 posts)Bernardo de La Paz
(49,002 posts)LuckyLib
(6,819 posts)experience, and evidence of his birth as Der Trumpenfuhrer! Love the gingerbread on the uniform!
bora13
(860 posts)His father was overheard saying to him, "If you don't get a goddam job before sundown, i'm shipping you off to military school like that goddam finkelstein shit-kid. sunofabitch!"
Historic NY
(37,449 posts)a few miles from my house. Apparently they didn't knock the shit out of him, as was promised.
niyad
(113,325 posts)Rex
(65,616 posts)Something very wrong with Dump.
shadowmayor
(1,325 posts)Kagan, a founding member of PNAC has swimming pools of blood on his hands and more countries to invade - er to liberally intervene in. Hearing a NeoCon cry about STFU Donny is precious. Of course he can't stomach the wild eyed buffoon, he can't be controlled like lil' shrub was by Dick n Don. So nice to see this turd upset about what "his" party has come to - may his and tRump's toes find sharp corners in the dark the rest of their miserable lives!
Bernardo de La Paz
(49,002 posts)shadowmayor
(1,325 posts)Love the message. The fact that it's coming from a NeoCon turd is priceless. Not sure if I wasn't clear or you misunderstood - but I didn't want the posts and messages to miss the fact about who Robert Kagan really is. The democrats know all about STFU Donny's wobbly mental state - it's just quite fun to see the hard right wringing their hands as well. Let the family fight begin and we can all pop a top on a cold one and watch them swing away.
superpatriotman
(6,249 posts)Our side needs the support, though, even if it's coming from neocon Hawks.
smirkymonkey
(63,221 posts)That Trump is one scary ass individual. It's good to know that he is reviled by people on both sides of the fence.
meow2u3
(24,764 posts)New Yorkers could have told you that tRump was always off his rocker.
My mom and I used to call him Donald Tramp because of his womanizing. I, for one, never thought much of him and always thought he was a attention-seeking psychopath.
Akbar
(307 posts)What if, as the campaign rolls on, more and more Khans speak up? How about ex-Trump employees and victims of Trumps scams? There are probably some women who have tales to tell. And probably parking attendants, restaurant servers and dry-cleaners.
There is no doubt there are plenty of those people out there who have been conned by Trump. So their stories need to be told. It puts him into an endless cycle of disparaging the waitress he stiffed, the employee he fired because, after she got pregnant, she was no longer a "six" or the Mexican housekeeper he was morally required to fire because he found another Mexican housekeeper who was ten cents an hour cheaper.
Sane people have realized that Donald Trump has nothing to say. Maybe the people who still consider voting for him might notice that all of his rants are about him and not about anyone else.
sarcasmo
(23,968 posts)tclambert
(11,087 posts)They said that his sociopathy (they may have meant psychopathy) meant he exhibited no empathy for others, did not empathize with their fear or pain or sadness, but any attack on himself, even a slight one, would be met with great anger. The slightest insult to himself would enrage him. Yet other peoples' suffering didn't phase him at all.
Doesn't that sound like Donald? He hurls insults at anyone, including grieving parents, yet screams, "No fair!" if anyone makes fun of him.
Does he ever laugh? I can't recall hearing his laugh. He smiles when he thinks he has hurt someone else. He certainly doesn't laugh at himself. And he absolutely hates it when others laugh at him.
Somebody ask him if he persistently wet his bed after he was five years old. Bet he wets himself on the spot.
ecstatic
(32,705 posts)nobody was off limits for tRump. ANYONE is fair game for him. He'd probably go after a 6 year old child that dared to criticize him.
Overseas
(12,121 posts)than public safety and fair coverage.
Mary Mac
(323 posts)When it was women on The View, no one paid attention.
cbdo2007
(9,213 posts)And this is his final act?
KittyWampus
(55,894 posts)I think Tony Clifton was more of a people person than Trump though.
BlancheSplanchnik
(20,219 posts)Self-preservation and self-gratification plus pleasure in hurting others gives you a dangerous POS with no off switch.
Botany
(70,512 posts)The man should never show his face again.
TonyPDX
(962 posts)Response to smirkymonkey (Original post)
Name removed Message auto-removed
HockeyMom
(14,337 posts)She was diagnosed with Frontal Lobe Dementia which doctors said started about 10 years ago. The signs came on gradually.
She would disagree, and get mad, at the slightest little thing which she perceived as a personal attack on her. Lash out at her own family even over driving and not going the same way she did. It has gotten so bad that she has attacked her own husband because she thinks that he is "out to get her".
I am not a doctor by any means but given the above Trump's personal increasing attacks on other people, scares me. Can you just imagine what his personal attacks as President would be on World Leaders? Oh, no, you cannot have someone like that sitting in the White House, and his finger on
"the button".
Hillary Clinton is the "Devil"????? OMG.
0rganism
(23,955 posts)...so HRC can win with a blowout of historic proportions
i'm starting to think he'll just drop out in September, say "i've done more than enough for you ungrateful losers", take his ball and go home. and then the RNC will just drop in someone halfway competent to pick up the pieces. they'd still lose bigly, but it just wouldn't be the same, and it wouldn't have the kind of generational lasting power we're looking for.
paulkienitz
(1,296 posts)Or we can give The Donald a urine test for amphetamines.
FairWinds
(1,717 posts)he agitated for the 2003 invasion of Iraq, and now wants another
US intervention in Syria.
Trust nothing any Neo-con or any Kagan says.
Egnever
(21,506 posts)nuff said
Farmgirl1961
(1,493 posts)calimary
(81,304 posts)Glad you're here. It's gratifying to see stuff like this start to proliferate. But we already suspected this of our dear Trumpty-Dumpty. (Or Humpty-Trumpty, I can't tell which is which, or which is better; and my husband prefers Trumpo Malfoy, Draco's dastardly Death-Eater uncle.)
smirkymonkey
(63,221 posts)Thank you for the contribution! Very interesting!
Francis Booth
(162 posts)anything, everyone treats him unfairly, he's the only competent person, etc. He also sincerely believes that no woman alive can resist him.
He's certainly the most unstable and ill-suited presidential candidate in my lifetime. Richard Nixon was rock-solid by comparison.
I hope there are enough Republicans with the integrity to loudly and publicly denounce this man. McCain seems to be stepping up. History will not be kind to anyone who knew better yet still supported his candidacy.
stcsatty
(12 posts)your noticing that NOW