TRUMP IS NOT EVIL - HE IS MENTALLY ILL !!! OH MY GOD !!!

[KarmaKola]

The recent behavior of Trump in repeating a number of demonstrably false statements (LIES) after moving into the White House are extremely revealing. During the campaign, his lies could be seen as distractions, oriented towards getting votes.

If Trump were merely evil, he would cease from stating lies that are denounced by both parties - an evil President, such as Richard Nixon, would be cunning enough to avoid such self-inflicted wounds.

The only alternative that makes sense is that Trump is severely mentally ill: through some combination of narcissism, feelings of inferiority, and a lack of rational thought, he actually BELIEVES HIS OWN LIES. This is why he refused to acknowledge the falsity of his birther claims until it became a political imperative.

As such, he is much more dangerous than an President such as Nixon could ever be: Nixon combined evil with a grasp of reality, and had the sense to resign when faced with irrefutable facts.

Trump is a MADMAN, pure and simple.

What is not simple is how "Ms. America" can deal with the morning-after realization that she was given a date-rape drug by Dirty Don Juan Trump, and then violated in every possible way.

[SecularMotion]

1. He is a weak, insecure individual trying to act powerful

[NewJeffCT]

26. agreed

It's been pretty obvious from the start to me, and I'm no shrink. But, he managed to fool over 60 million people into voting for him.

I mean, he ran away from Megyn Kelly whining that she was having her period after she gave him one completely fair question asking him to explain some of his past comments about women, using his own damn quotes.

[Control-Z]

35. I've known from day one.

Having lived with a narcissistic husband for 13 years probably helped. Nothing he has done or said has surprised me. What has surprised me was the willingness of the media to buy into and promote his lies for so long. It always seemed to me that they knew the truth but chose to play along. Now I'm not so sure. They seem genuinely shocked.

That more than 60 million people voted for him is what is truly shocking to me. I still don't believe it.

[SammyWinstonJack]

52. Nailed it! Period.

[Lotusflower70]

2. Why choose?

He is both. Believe it.

[KarmaKola]

6. WHAT CAN WE DO BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE ???

IS IT ALREADY TOO LATE ? MUST WE WAIT FOR A TRUE DISASTER BEFORE WE CAN ACT ?

[Lotusflower70]

8. Good question

Do what you can. I am focusing local for now. I am signing petitions and sending emails as well as making calls. People are protesting. I marched on Saturday and will get out there for Earth Day and other opportunities. Find what you are good at and run with it. Don't wait, get active. Take action ASAP. Even if it feels like you aren't being heard, remember each and every voice adds up to millions.

[Cha]

66. Exactly.. we've seen evidence of his "evil" before the election..

and now he's showing us what a madman he is..

[Demsrule86]

3. He is evil and mentally ill.

[KarmaKola]

4. A weak insecure person who does not have a rational mind, and cannot admit failure !

SCARY !!!

[RedWedge]

5. Nah, just depressed, empty and narcissistic.

[underpants]

7. Barney?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10028540003

[ananda]

9. Here's the thing.

Nothing is going to happen, and this is why.

Trump doesn't have to be sane or bright in order
to destroy everything the government does for
people and the public commons.

Even a monkey could sign those orders.

[KarmaKola]

10. EVEN DECENT REPUBLICANS ARE MORTIFIED...

AND AFRAID TO SPEAK OUT !!!

[Bucky]

25. It's the primary season all over again. Except instead of candidates afraid to speak out

it's the rank and file Republicans afraid to denounce the fascist they put into office.

Fuck fascists. But fuck the Quislings too.

[Silent3]

49. All three of them! n/t

[hunter]

11. Nah, he's just an asshole. He's always been and asshole. Don't make excuses for him.

Everything that comes out of his mouth is shit.

He's mendacious, racist, misogynist, venal, narcissistic, incurious, illiterate, and a dump truck load of other unpleasant things.

[SammyWinstonJack]

14. He's an asshole. And proud one at that.

[madokie]

40. Yes he's proud that he's an ASSHOLE

A dangerous one at that

[mountain grammy]

20. I tend to agree with this.

But he is obsessive about certain things to the point of WTF? Beyond just being mean, dumb and an all around asshole.

[GliderGuider]

12. America has been date-raped. Great analogy! nt

[KarmaKola]

13. BUT TRUMP SAYS HE WILL SUE MS. AMERICA FOR LIBEL....

HIS DEFENSE IS THAT MS. AMERICA JUST DOESN'T TURN HIM ON, SO HE COULDN'T HAVE ASSAULTED HER....

[RobinA]

16. I Completely Disagree

There was no date rape drug. Don walked up to Ms. America in a bar and said, "I'm an unstable creep who lies repeatedly, ask anyone. Come home with me, it'll be great." Ms. America says, "Here I come. You're rich so you must be smart, I'll give you a chance. I say judge people by what they do not what they say and you say you're great, so it must be true."

[KarmaKola]

45. If Ms. America was a whore, biggest criminal was her John (Donald John) Trump

Even if Ms. America was a whore, the biggest criminal was her John (Donald John) Trump.

Even a whore does not deserve to be drugged and raped by El Presidente

[ElkeH]

15. He is pandering to his supporters

They believe those lies as well

[KarmaKola]

19. His supporters believe his LIES, but have Trouble with CONTRADICTORY LIES

For example, his lawyers argued there was NO voter fraud when recounts were being pursued. Even Repugs in the Congress cannot agree with his 3-5 million voter fraud claim.

[NewJeffCT]

28. Republicans in Congress don't agree with the mass voter fraud

however, they're going to use the investigation to justify much stricter voter ID and suppression laws if just one case is found involving somebody of color voting illegally.

[pnwmom]

17. Mental illness might be preferable because some can be managed with meds.

Unfortunately, there is no cure or even treatment for a personality disorder, like narcissism and borderline, which he strongly appears to have. His basic personality -- his total self absorption -- is fixed and there's no way to change it.

[get the red out]

27. THIS!

The media needs to speculate a bit on this.

[JonLP24]

57. I have borderline personality disorder

It isn't as bad as it sounds and really don't think Trump has it because BPD individuals tend to have empathy, they just have a hard time expressing their emotions.


Borderline personality disorder (BPD), also known as emotionally unstable personality disorder, is a long-term pattern of abnormal behavior characterized by unstable relationships with other people, unstable sense of self, and unstable emotions.[3][4] There is often an extreme fear of abandonment, frequent dangerous behavior, a feeling of emptiness, and self-harm. Symptoms may be brought on by seemingly normal events.[3] The behavior typically begins by early adulthood, and occurs across a variety of situations.[4] Substance abuse, depression, and eating disorders are commonly associated with BPD.[3] BPD increases the risk of self-harm and 10% of people affected die by suicide.[3][4]

BPD's causes are unclear, but seem to involve genetic, brain, environment, and social factors. It occurs about five times more often in a person who has an affected close relative.[3] Adverse life events also appear to play a role. The underlying mechanism appears to involve the frontolimbic network of neurons.[5] BPD is recognized by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) as a personality disorder, along with nine other such disorders.[4] Diagnosis is based on the symptoms while a medical exam may be done to rule out other problems.[3] The condition must be differentiated from an identity problem or substance use disorders, among other possibilities.[4]

Borderline personality disorder is typically treated with therapy, such as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). Another type, dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) has been found to reduce the risk of suicide. Therapy may occur one-on-one, or in a group. While medications do not cure BPD, they may be used to help with the associated symptoms. Some people require care in hospital.[3]

About 1.6% of people have BPD in a given year.[3] Females are diagnosed about three times as often as males. It appears to become less common among older people. Up to half of people improve over a ten-year period. People affected typically use a high amount of healthcare resources.[4] There is an ongoing debate about the naming of the disorder, especially the suitability of the word "borderline".[3]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borderline_personality_disorder

[pnwmom]

59. That is all good information, but it is common for a person

to have both disorders.

You're right that pathological narcissism would be worse, since it doesn't respond to any standard treatment. (And these individuals very rarely go for treatment, since they consider themselves perfect.)

https://www.bpdcentral.com/faq/personality-disorders

How common are borderline and narcissistic personality disorders?

According to the largest study ever conducted on personality disorders (PD) by the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH), 5.9% of the U.S. population has BPD (Grant et al. 2008) and 6.2% has NPD (Stinson et al. 2008). As some people fit both diagnoses, about 10 percent of the U.S. population has BPD and/or NPD.

Of the people meeting the criteria for a BPD diagnosis, 53 percent were women and 47 percent were men (Grant et al. 2008). Of the people meeting the criteria for NPD, 62 percent were men and 38 percent were women (Stinson et al. 2008).

Your partner could have either disorder—or both. Almost 40 percent of people with one of these disorders also have the other, according to the NIH study (Grant et al. 2008; Stinson et al. 2008). Many more people have traits of a PD, but not the full disorder. Therefore, the number of people with some of these problems may be even higher.

[JonLP24]

61. I can't speak to Narcissism

ButIreally don't think Trump has BPD or that BPD is a bad thing. I think he is more likely to be a sociopath than having BPD which is often associated with trauma.

[Generator]

18. Hillary told us

We all knew this didn't we? We watched peaceful transfer of power to a madman.

[KarmaKola]

21. Not Peaceful Transfer: Peaceful Theft of Power

They have the gall to tell us not to complain about the hijacking of our Democracy by Comey and Putin acting in concert

[Generator]

22. Well that would have been up to our "leaders"

to actually do something about. This was done to America with full consent of every one in power.

[2naSalit]

58. Pretty much...

sure looks like it from out here in the hinterland.

[meow2u3]

23. He's not only both evil and severely mentally disordered

He also surrounds himself with evil minions such as Stephen "The False Prophet" Bannon, Kellyanne CONway, and other bootlickers who tell him what he wants to hear and shield him from reality.

I wouldn't say he's mentally ill because IMO, mental illness implies an affliction; being mentally disordered is different AFAIC. He has a severe personality disorder that impairs his ability to function if he's challenged in the slightest way, even by objective reality.

[Raine1967]

24. A person can be both. and the pResident is. eom

[matt819]

29. Not that it matters. . .

I think it's pretty well established that he suffers from Narcissistic Personality Disorder.

Here's the "not that it matters part." I wonder also whether he is also suffering from Alzheimers or some other form of dementia. The reports of tantrums and child-like behavior make me wonder. I've already suggested that, despite his educational background, he may very well be functionally illiterate. He doesn't read. He can't really speak all that well. He sticks to topics that he has effectively memorized and can parrot back without any additional thought.

[KarmaKola]

34. Spot On! with Correction: It DOES Matter

It is never too late to take back America !!

[pbmus]

30. Yep, pretty much how everyone should feel...

[URL=.html][IMG][/IMG][/URL]

[KarmaKola]

33. A PICTURE YOU MUST SEE !!! Thanks, pbmus...

A picture IS worth a 1,000 words....I could not figure out how to post this.... Thanks, pbmus !!

PS:

Is there still a "morning after" pill to prevent a "rape-pregnancy" ?
I hear the Repugs want to get this medication off the shelf to ensure that the reptilian beast is born....

[rock]

31. Why not both?

AND an asshole.

[KarmaKola]

32. PICTURE OF DONALD TRUMP AND RAPE VICTIM, MS. AMERICA

A picture is worth 1,000 words:

Google the following image, for a perfect illustration by David Rowe of the "morning after"....isn't there a pill for this ?

"Good Morning America" Rowe

[LeftishBrit]

36. I think he is a psychopath, to be honest

People who are mentally ill in the usual sense usually do not commit such evil acts, and are not so successful at manipulating others.

[lpbk2713]

37. A lifetime of BEING evil has made him psychotic.

And now his physical condition is declining as well.

I really don't think he'll make it four years.

[KarmaKola]

38. EVIL Inside Results in UGLY Outside

I agree with you about his appearance.

When Trump was younger, he was not bad looking.

Now that the evil within him is bubbling to the surface, he is beginning to revert to the reptilian DNA that he must be descended from: just note the ugly red scales that appear on his face, and the lizard-like double chin of loose flesh hanging from his face.

HOW UGLY !!!

[lpbk2713]

39. Like they say ... beauty is only skin deep.

But ugly goes right to the bone.

[KarmaKola]

43. And no one could be uglier that the reptile Dirty Don Juan

UGH!

[dalton99a]

41. He is an evil asshole, from birth.

[KarmaKola]

42. I would not mind the Asshole, were it not for the Evil.

Thank you !

[sarcasmo]

44. Watching Bill O and Fox news then re-tweeting.

[KarmaKola]

46. Insight from a Critic of My Article

Because DU does tend at times to lean towards deeply held convictions and conclusions, it is useful to get some perspective from reasonable people who don't fully agree with our opinions. As such, I have pasted below the comments from a person whose opinions I respect. He provides some excellent links that deal with the subject of Trump's mental health that I broached, and in general, which do endorse the basic idea that there is much room for concern here.

When the mental health of a public figure comes up, everyone usually makes the disclaimer that one cannot formulate conclusions outside of a clinical process. However, in dealing with someone like Trump, who we have had to watch and observe in detail over many months, I feel that the raw material we have to make an assessment far exceeds what a psychologist/psychiatrist might glean from a few sessions. The articles delve into what "kind" of narcissistic disorder Trump has; they don't question what we have seen ad nauseum in word and deed.

I feel this criticism has value precisely because it is criticism: as the old saying goes, your friends criticize you, and your enemies praise you. Comments regarding the alternate perspective pasted below will be highly appreciated.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I am not impressed with this article. It is "red meat" without any sort of substantive discussion. All this article does is further enrage those who are upset about Trump's victory. Is this where you get your Don Juan commentary?

Nixon was not evil--he was an alcoholic surrounded by enablers. Trump is a narcissist who is surrounded by many people--how many are enablers?

More interesting and informative articles include this one:

http://nymag.com/scienceofus/2017/01/a-therapist-attempts-to-explain-trumps-behavior-so-far.html

or this one that raises more troubling questions:

http://www.politicususa.com/2017/01/28/opinion-leading-psychologists-trump-mentally-deranged.html

Finally, there is this article in U.S. News & World Report that was published today:

http://www.usnews.com/news/the-report/articles/2017-01-27/does-donald-trumps-personality-make-him-dangerous

The last article is the most interesting because it suggests that Trump may not have NPD, but rather has "malignant narcissism," which is different from narcissistic personality disorder and which is incurable.

Our country has a problem and we are not going to solve it by political name calling or angry comments. We have to objectively discuss the situation, citing factual basis that can be objectively verified. We have to raise above the impulse to get emotional or else we fall into the same abyss as Trump does.

[kwassa]

47. Objectively speaking, Trump has clear signs of mental health problems.

Calling him a madman may seem over the top, but he has serious issues, and clearly fits in the category of the narcissistic personality disorder. This is not an experimental diagnostic category, unlike malignant narcissism.

Yes, it must be discussed rationally and clearly. Rationality is the greatest weapon against Trump, with the emphasis put on persuasion of those currently supporting him.

[Cha]

48. I say both, damnit

[Mc Mike]

50. Both.

They're not mutually exclusive conditions. A venn diagram would show 2 circles, side by side, but overlapping.

[KarmaKola]

53. You are Correct: You Can Be Both Evil and Mentally Ill

I wish I could avoid the ambiguity - for example, one could argue that there is no such thing as Evil per se, and that it is just a form of mental illness...if we all believed this, we would no imprison criminals, who would all go into psych rehab.

I don't agree with this extreme position, and like the Venn diagram approach - very useful for logic parsing.

Thanks for your clarification

[Mc Mike]

55. Arendt's 'Banality of Evil' concept might be pertinent, Karma:

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/aug/29/hannah-arendt-adolf-eichmann-banality-of-evil

[KarmaKola]

62. ANALOGY TO ADOLF EICHMANN UNFAIR TO EICHMANN

It seems suitable to conclude that the evil of Adolf Eichmann, the mild-mannered bureaucrat, was banal....However, for most of the Nazis in the 3rd Reich, their evil was anything but banal....just witness the Nuremberg rallies staged by Leni Reifenstahl (one of Steve Bannon's idols).

A more apt stylistic analogy for Trump's evil is the other Adolf himself. Adolf H. got 37 % of the vote vs. the 47% received by Dirty Don, but both moved quickly after getting in power to make elections irrelevant.

[Mc Mike]

63. There was a big hullabaloo about Arendt's assessment.

To me, a major point was that a large amount of evil can be planned and carried out by normal clerkish looking mild-mannered bureaucrats. They don't need to be spinning their heads 360, levitating and spitting green stuff, no supernatural being possessing them. Their actions can be defined as evil, (& insane also).

Agree that dRumpf is more like Hitler than his underling Eichmann. Shitler only got 46% of 55.3% of voters, ~ 25% of eligible voters, that's not hard core committed followers though. Don't know what % turned out in '32, when regular Hitler got his highest % of the vote.

Orange hitler's moves are designed to test the theory that he has his 'hitler's magic 10%' of the population on board as hard core committed followers, in order for him to push successfully for fascism. But his single largest opponent got millions more votes than him, he hasn't consolidated his power to make elections irrelevant, that isn't a done deal. Millions of people have turned out in all the areas where most of the country's population is, to oppose him, far more than ever turned out for his 'yuge' rallies of dipshits and dickheads.

He keeps getting opposed and frustrated, and rages away at every setback he suffers, and every criticism of him that gets publicized. That's not someone who's secure in his totalitarian power, that's someone who thought everyone would automatically be scared to death into silence and acquiesence, and now he sees it isn't happening like he dreamed it would. I don't count us as out, yet, and hope you don't either.

dRumpf did study hitler's speeches, Bannon is a nazi and I believe he loves 3rd reich propaganda. The death's head ss uniforms, the total warfare against civilian populations, the death camps were evil, I agree. There was a weird wind up toy marionette quality to their marches. Watching the joy and ecstasy of the regular citizen followers at the rallies where the only concrete things laid out were 'kill, destroy, attack' could make someone think 'evil, not banal and commonplace'.

But there was nothing superhuman or supernatural about any of the nazi big shots or their rank and file supporters. Hitler was just a flunky of Krupp, Farben, Thyssen, Schacht, Standard Oil, Dupont, etc. He stayed a flunky until he died.

[KarmaKola]

64. Right On, Mc Mike !

I appreciate your hard-hitting style, and approve of the use of any and all epithets to de-legitimize the imposter president, and amuse ourselves in the process.

I do believe Hitler got 37% of the vote in the last free election before the 3rd Reich took over, and while I believe in historical parallels, I like the adage that "history does not repeat, but it rhymes".

In spite of all the near-term fumbling in whipping up xenophobic hysteria, we should recognize this is just a speed bump for the dangerous Bannon/Goebbels master plan.

We should stay tuned for the next episode in managed hysteria, in which a terrorist act occurs in the US, provoked and inspired by the recent demonization of Moslems, which was DESIGNED to inflame the most dangerous fringe elements of Islam.

Deploying the same tactics as used wrt the Reichstag fire and 9/11, Trump and the anti-Semitic Steve Bannon shall then launch a "cleansing campaign" to strip all of us of our rights. But, not to worry: most of us are TRUE AMERICANS, and have the paper documents to prove it.

[Mc Mike]

65. Yeah, you can see drumpfenfuhrer's team of misfits

and cripples are trying to set up an attack on us, like a reichstag fire or 9/11. Provoking extremists, ignoring intel pros, leaving key nat'l security posts unfilled.

He's just like the last repug prez. What a treasonous bunch. It's funny that the terrorists never figure out how to hit an area that strongly backed electing the hated repug prez. Looks like the only good targets, in their minds, are areas of the country that hate the repugs.

It's almost like the extremist terrorists and the extremist repugs are allies. Same enemies, same targets, same aims, same hate.

[KarmaKola]

68. DumKopf IS Treasonous

Loved your citation of Aristophanes, who knew how to sling it....the string of insults is so long, I think your list was truncated, and is missing a theme of being a bean eater and gross farter...

" arrogant rogue, the incarnation of calumny, a domineering and dishonest slave who has rendered life intolerable for others and had to be gotten rid of, a perfect glutton, bad-tempered, a fawning cur, a robber, detested, a yawning gulf of plunder, a villain a thousand times a day, an imposter, a dull varlet, a cheat who flutters from one extortion to another, etc"

Anyway, we know that Hitler boasted about a 1,000 year Reich, and committed suicide 12 years in. Tyrants do themselves in, sooner or later, one way or another. KEEP THE FAITH !!!

[Mc Mike]

69. Like DumKopf.

I'll spin it to dRumkopf, in future insulting harangues.

The quote had to be truncated to fit in the sig line box limits. Here's a fuller version:

Paphlagonian tanner, an arrogant rogue, the incarnation of calumny, a domineering and dishonest slave who has rendered life intolerable for others and had to be gotten rid of, a brutal master, a perfect glutton for beans, ... bad-tempered, a fawning cur, a robber..., detested, a yawning gulf of plunder, a villain a thousand times a day, an imposter, a dull varlet, a thief, a cheat who flutters from one extortion to another, and helps himself with both hands from the public funds, an Inspector of Arses, with a pigs education, and a man whose death would be a happy day for the rest of the Athenians and their children -- Aristophanes (describing the corrupt ruler Cleon), from Joe Heller's Picture This

The 'tanner' part is what first caught my eye, re the ancient quote's relevance to our current situation. By the 14th word of the quote it looked like an almost perfect match.

I remember the failure of the '1000 year reich' prediction, and pig Rove's 'permanent repug majority' idea. And this current bumbling nazi is coming apart at the seams, flying apart as he whirls around, like a tasmanian devil, enacting his agenda.

None of these nazis inhabit reality, so they run into brick walls eventually. The relatively short half life of evil is being displayed. He carries the entire world inside his head, but it's a cartoon alt-reality version of the world, where li'l donnie is the center of the universe and most important thing ever.

Whatta balloon head.

Hang tough, Karma.

[still_one]

51. he is both

[KarmaKola]

54. "BOTH" Wins the Straw Poll !!!

I don't have the privilege of actually setting up a DU poll yet....

[Cha]

67. Yes. he showed us how evil he is before the election and

now it seems to be descending into madness.

Starting with "crowd size" and more evil with the Shock Muslim Ban.

[catbyte]

56. You can be evil AND mentally ill.

[KarmaKola]

60. HUGELY EVIL AND HUGELY INSANE AND HUGELY DANGEROUS !!!!

Amen