General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: We must face reality. Trump is not a stupid man. Far from it. [View all]markodochartaigh
(1,164 posts)are not human beings. At not in the way that we in the hoi-polloi are used to referring to human beings. When one talks about one's self, one's neighbor, one's sister generally you are referring to one person and one person alone. The person may have those who assist them with this or that, but it is that single entity who decides what they will do and why. Talking about a world leader one really isn't talking about a single entity who is mostly dependent upon their own resources, driven by their own needs and desires. At least to the outside world, someone in that position, even someone as incredibly self-centered as Trump, is more a collection of forces, a nexus which has collective resources, abilities, needs, and desires so much greater than most of us that they are no longer human beings in the usual sense. Think of the European kings who were simpletons, or infants. Think of Senator Feinstein at the very end of her career. The political entity that is the politician at that level scarcely needs a heartbeat. Bush II had a man who was said to be his brain, but in reality even though the leader themself is susceptible to all the weaknesses of a normal human, they derive most of their strengths from their extra-corporeal forces. Trump may have all the curiosity of a head of well boiled cabbage, and all the morality taught him by his mentor Roy Cohn, but he has access to an incredible suite of brilliant and unscrupulous talent.