"A disregulated bundle of impulses, being manipulated by a cast of crooks and incompetents"

[highplainsdem]

David Roberts at Vox says we overanalyze Trump, but his analysis in this column is perfect, and also terrifying:

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/5/12/15621140/interpret-trump

We badly want to understand Trump, to grasp him. It might give us some sense of control, or at least an ability to predict what he will do next.

But what if there’s nothing to understand? What if there’s no there there? What if our attempts to explain Trump have failed not because we haven’t hit on the right one, but because we are, theory-of-mind-wise, overinterpreting the text?

In short, what if Trump is exactly as he appears: a hopeless narcissist with the attention span of a fruit fly, unable to maintain consistent beliefs or commitments from moment to moment, acting on base instinct, entirely situationally, to bolster his terrifyingly fragile ego.

-snip-

Trump defies our theory of mind because he appears to lack a coherent, persistent self or worldview. He is a raging fire of need, protected and shaped by a lifetime of entitlement, with the emotional maturity and attention span of a 6-year-old, utterly unaware of the long-term implications of his actions.

-snip-

That’s who he is: a disregulated bundle of impulses, being manipulated by a cast of crooks and incompetents, supported by a Republican Party willing to bet the stability of the country against upper-income tax cuts. We need to stop looking for a more complicated story.

[Solly Mack]

1. K&R

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

2. I think that's exactly right.

Trump is not complicated or clever, except for his base instincts as a con artist. Even his cons are in service of the black hole of unquenchable need that drives everything he says and does. Why this isn't screamingly obvious to the damn fools in the GOP is beyond me.

[murielm99]

5. If you ever had to live with a narcissist,

or work for one, you know the drill. You dodge, look and hope for a way out. Eventually, there is a way out.

With trump, we will have to make our own way out. There is a path. We will find it.

[Kathy M]

7. Yes ..... agree .....

I think following the money will be the best shot to expose . Hopefully HUD and other agencies are being watched and accounted for . Besides Trump the other person I do not trust at all is Manafort

http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2016/04/trumps_convention_manager_once_embroiled_in_nj_hou.html

http://www.nytimes.com/1989/06/21/us/bush-consultant-peddled-influence-at-hud-he-says.html

[LuckyLib]

3. K and R!

[dchill]

4. I think it's this simple...

His only instinct is to draw attention to himself when he fears that it's slipping away. He wants the spotlight on himself alone, and doesn't seem to be able to control the impulse to jump into a riptide.

[Kablooie]

6. What's really scary is that he's been schooled in how to launch nuclear weapons.

If he sees someone in North Korea ridicule him on TV he could easily send missiles there in a fit of pique.
There are no checks on the president launching nuclear weapons except perhaps the man who holds the briefcase.
This one guy might be able to grasp that the president is off his rocker and so prevent the disaster.
But if he doesn't, once the president executes the launch codes there's no way to stop them from that point.

At nighttime when the president's in bed is the nuclear football guy sitting outside his bedroom?

[world wide wally]

8. Nailed it but forgot to include that his measuring stick is how much money he stands to make on

every individual action.

[Mme. Defarge]

9. Un enfant terrible.

[Skittles]

10. it's not like he suddenly became crazy

he has always been nuts

[KG]

12. he's been an unashamed and quite public shithead his entire life. why do some seem surprised.

[Nay]

14. Well, exactly. He's never hidden what he is. That's the scary part. IMO,

there are many scary voters who WANT TO BE TRUMP. They want the trophy wife lying on the piano with her boobs nearly hanging out; they want to stiff working people as they themselves have been stiffed; they want to order people around and have them jump, simply because money talks; they want their every whim to be satisfied immediately by those around them.

In other words, there are plenty of howling narcissists out there who are very similar to Trump. There are also a disheartening number of women who would be perfectly OK being a trophy wife who can order others around with impunity. Think Imelda Marcos.

[Skittles]

15. yup

I think the bigger issue is not how pathetic Donald Trump is, but how such a sick fuck was able to get 60,000,000 people to vote for him

[sharedvalues]

11. Well put

But the president is also likely is dirty about something involving Russian hacking and/or money laundering.

[Cha]

13. trump is the evil spawn

of satan.. the anti-Christ to put it in Biblical terms.

You get that.. you got trump.

And, yeah.. that too..

In short, what if Trump is exactly as he appears: a hopeless narcissist with the attention span of a fruit fly, unable to maintain consistent beliefs or commitments from moment to moment, acting on base instinct, entirely situationally, to bolster his terrifyingly fragile ego.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

16. History books are full of men like these in power.

Except American history books aren't.

[JudyM]

17. K&R.

[ThoughtCriminal]

18. What sort of disorder describes his followers?

Last edited Sat May 13, 2017, 11:19 PM - Edit history (1)

Deplorable imbeciles, but is it a disorder?. D.I's certainly but can we diagnose D.I.D. from a distance? Certainly it is safer to diagnose from a distance.