The Unraveling -- D...
 
Notifications
Clear all

The Unraveling -- Donald Trump

3,304 Posts
118 Users
40032 Likes
287.3 K Views
(@mas1581)
Illustrious Member Registered
Joined: 6 years ago
Posts: 808
 

@deetoo

I dont think this "chosen one" move is derived from his insanity. If he had just said it, maybe, but by looking to the "heavens" when saying it, Im convinced it is calculated. It probably was a move suggested by someone else(Pence, Miller) but no way does a godless narcissistic man looks upward making that statement unless its thought out. That is admitting there is something out there greater than he, and Trump wpuld never admit that unless it was part of a plan.


   
BlueBelle, lenor, deetoo and 9 people reacted
ReplyQuote
(@sagetarotpisces)
Reputable Member Registered
Joined: 5 years ago
Posts: 31
 

Chiming in to say i’m not sure id call the occupant of the oval office smart in any sense. 

He's a narcissist and likely has antisocial personality disorder. That means highly skilled  manipulation. Our entire country is feeling that manipulation. Its confusing and scary, and its supposed to be, with these types of people. He only thinks about himself and acts on impulse. His worst fear is others seeing his “true self”. It is all a mirror to prop up his very fragile ego. Its a miserable way to live, but textbook NPD. He does not play chess or think long term politically. He just “does”. If you know about or have spent time around people with these PD’s, it becomes all that more clear. Its not just twitter talk or something you read in an op-ed, once you see people with these personality disorders—- you get it. It is him. And its serious. There isn't too much thought or well thought out planning.

Someone called him the king  of israel and he’s embellishing it in his head because it makes him feel special . He wants to be a king so badly, he loves it. The “chosen one” is just him relishing in his own delusions of grandeur on national television. Do i think he actually believes hes the chosen one? Probably not in the way we mean it. He probably doesnt think hes a biblical entity- he does not care about god or religion, or spirituality. He cares about himself. Anything that comes to him- people, opinions, things, jobs- it is all a means to an end to satisfy his ego. He just likes the way “chosen one” sounds. And yes, he does believe he is that important, he believes he and only he can save america (not that he cares a shred about america or its people apart from what they can provide him) and he wants to act and think like he is above everybody. With NPD. Its a combination of believing youre above everyone, while also deep down having the opposite of that be your biggest fear- its based on extreme insecurity and a desire to bury that as drastically as possible.

I also believe he likes messing with people. He likes the drama of saying it, and is probably aware of how media will react. Thats the manipulation i was talking about. But a genius? No. Did he plan it out? Maybe but probably not. Did he look up to the sky to mock it in some sadistic way because he knew it would drive people crazy? That could also be. I think he likes the way it sounds. He does believe he is he chosen one .. just not in the ways we’d think. He does believe he is that special though.

furthermore, im 98% sure he has dementia. Maybe 2nd or 3rd stage. He is not well. It has been well documented that many doctors and psychiatrists all believe this to be the case, and warn how dire it is. Im a mental health professional, there is no question about it for me. His father also had Alzheimer's. I would suggest reading up on it. People make jokes and make fun of him for this, but i think its actually the most alarming aspect of the presidency right now. 


   
deetoo, numerologist, BlueBelle and 13 people reacted
ReplyQuote
(@deetoo)
Illustrious Member Moderator
Joined: 5 years ago
Posts: 2122
 

Really interesting thread going about T's mental state.  We've never encountered anything like this before, and it's scary as hell.  I agree with sagetarotpisces' observation that T believes he is the "chosen one", but not in the way that we mean it. He's probably been basking in that thought ever since his evangelical base has been claiming it, which really began when he announced he was running.  But I also believe that something else is going on with him.  It could very well be Alzheimer's, but we wouldn't know for sure without a thorough neuropsychological evaluation.  My mother passed away from Alzheimer’s, and she had such an extensive test at Johns Hopkins in the early stages of her disease.  I know that over a year ago T had that simple, 10-minute cognitive screening which purportedly ruled out full-blown dementia, but not early stage.  It’s now more than a year later and he’s gotten worse with his disordered speech and deteriorating language skills, among other things.

I am curious about how NPD originates.  Is it genetic?  A result of  trauma?  Or a combination of factors?


   
numerologist, BlueBelle, lenor and 3 people reacted
ReplyQuote
(@Anonymous)
New Member Guest
Joined: 1 second ago
Posts: 0
 

The 38 most bizarre lines from Donald Trump's wild impromptu news conference. 

My favorite is the bit about Greenland..

6. "Denmark, I looked forward to going, but I thought that the Prime Minister's statement -- that it was absurd; that it was an absurd idea -- it was nasty. I thought it was an inappropriate statement. All she had to do is say, 'No, we wouldn't be interested.'"
OK, so. Trump wanted to buy Greenland, which is owned by Denmark. The Danes said no. But it was the way they said "no" that pissed Trump off. Everyone knows "absurd" is fighting words, right? RIGHT?
 
And my second favorite is. 
 
3. "[Fed Chair Jerome Powell] raised interest rates too fast, too furious."
"I live my life a quarter-mile at a time." -- Dominic Toretto/Vin Diesel
 
This would be hysterical if this was a president in another county but alas he is our one and it’s just sad
 
 
 

   
deetoo and deetoo reacted
ReplyQuote
(@lenor)
Illustrious Member Registered
Joined: 5 years ago
Posts: 862
 

Good News

An IRS whistleblower gave the Democrats information about possible misconduct relating to the IRS audit of Trump’s taxes. 

www.huffpost.com/entry/whistleblower-trump-tax-returns-audit_n_5d5eeaece4b02cc97c8aa623

And he got caught inflating his Scotland golf course by 165 million!

www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-scotland-golf-courses-inflating-value_n_5d5c1ccce4b05f62fbd5f559


   
Celticwitch, BlueBelle, deetoo and 3 people reacted
ReplyQuote
(@vestralux)
Illustrious Member Registered
Joined: 6 years ago
Posts: 670
 

Perhaps it's a false dilemma fallacy, debating whether the man literally believes he's "the chosen one" or whether it's just another clever con. Maybe it isn't one or the other, but both—and a little of something else*.

DT obviously isn't a religious man, so his claim isn't messianic in the classic sense. If he were a believer, that kind of statement would classify as madness, certifiably. Which makes it not only totally unwise, but very poorly thought out if it was just a strategic play to the evangelical base. (Besides which, not every evangelical can be happy about it—that sort of thing was still blasphemy last time I checked.)

It might appear on the surface that DT has no genuine ideology, but he does have a longstanding and faithful personal conviction and practice, one shared by his father and grandfather before him (even before Norman Vincent Peale popularized some of its tenants, apparently). The Drumpf family version isn't "the power of positive thinking." It's a crude, reductive blend of American capitalism, Western mysticism, and absolute belief in the power of personal will. And its only ritual, so far as I know, is to speak one's will into the world, often and "bigly"—and to as many people as will listen.

It's not so much that DT doesn't believe in God. It's that, if you're special enough to know the secret to manifesting power and material wealth, and manipulating peoples' opinions and actions, then you ARE God—the only kind that matters. Point is, he believes he is "chosen" because he did the choosing. And I mean that literally: DT had been speaking publicly about becoming president for decades. According to his own philosophy, he willed it. 

The problem for him is that he's a fundamentalist of his own system. His greatest fear is that anyone in the world can defeat him with only words. He behaves as though the slightest (perceived) criticism has the power to destroy his material reality because there's a hole in his personal religion the size of his insecurities, and it's far better to battle imaginary enemies than stare truth in the eye. So, not a very powerful god, but like the Old Testament version, he is: keen on preemptive strikes and overzealous counterattacks; enjoys "testing loyalty" in increasingly weird and cruel ways; generally horrible to women; and is fond of establishing arbitrary and sadistic laws, and threatening unimaginably sick torments for those who break them.    

I think all of the above can be explained by DT's extreme grandiosity, tendencies to paranoia, and the sadism that are part and parcel of his Dark Triad nature, i.e., narcissistic personality disorder, Machiavellianism, and his particular strain of sociopathy. 

 

*The more relevant thing to consider maybe is that, unlike some other personality disorders, the malignant narcissist doesn't mellow with age. He deteriorates—cognitively, behaviorally, functionally.

By the time they're of a certain age, they have fractured every relationship that matters (i.e., sources of "narcissistic supply") and alienated everyone around them to the point of no return. This makes them more brutal than ever, not less.

Where they might have been subtly manipulative once upon a time, with age, they become aggressively bullying and overtly bigoted, lashing out wholesale at any group they deem beneath them. Even if these people weren't overtly or consistently sexist, homophobic, racist, or classist in their younger days, the bottom drops out. No one is safe. Because they cannot tolerate their own decline, they frequently attack other people for being "too old" or for "going senile"—that kind of thing. 

Rages and psychosis episodes aren't uncommon. You know, the stuff horror films are made of if they take place in a nursing home. Or the White House.  

 

P.S.

For anyone here who's dealt with a parent, family member, or spouse who fits that description, I'm sending you a lot of love. I get it. ❤️ 


   
marcosromao, Celticwitch, numerologist and 23 people reacted
ReplyQuote
(@jeanne-mayell)
Illustrious Member Admin
Joined: 7 years ago
Posts: 7907
Topic starter  

Vestralux, well done. Powerful post. Leaves me speechless.  


   
VestraLux, BlueBelle, deetoo and 7 people reacted
ReplyQuote
(@laura-f)
Illustrious Member Participant
Joined: 7 years ago
Posts: 2137
 

@Vestralux @Sagetarotpisces

Thank you, and yes yes yes.

 

 


   
VestraLux, BlueBelle, VestraLux and 1 people reacted
ReplyQuote
(@yogagirl)
Famed Member Registered
Joined: 7 years ago
Posts: 381
 

Well said everyone!  @Sagetarotpices I think you are righton!  Dump doesn't think he reacts then acts.  iI also believe he is running scared.  He has lost a lot of his rich supporters including the Mercers.  He is getting criticised by a few more Repubs who know their constituits (?) are dropping like flys.  More and more Repbus are being confronted at their local town halls by people angry about health care, Social Security and those with a social conscious, the children in cages.  I believe even more than a few Repubs are appalled by the kids in cages.  Who in their right mind wouldn't be.  Yes I know that many of Dumps supporters are mental cases like him, but their are still decent people in this world.  I think we all need to remember that.  

I also believe alot of his reteric is an act.  Don't forget his MO is distract, distract, distract then deny!  My acupunturist was looking at a close up of Dumps face and his puples are hugh.  I believe he is on some kind of medication, whether perscribed or not.  He has BillyBarr fighting tooth and nail to block the House getting his financials.  I believe it is just a matter of time before they have a big chunk of them, maybe not all but hopefully enough.  

I know times are dark right now and I know how hard it is not to get angry or depressed and worried.  I try to use the old addage Count Your Blessings and beathe deep.  We all have to do what we can to continue the fight.  Even if it's a daily prayer.  I take one minute when I wake up in the morning and meditate on the word PEACE.  Just repeat it very slowly.  It gives me the strength to get up and go about my day.  It helps to keep the darkness out of my mind.  Andtrust me after being hacked Wednesday My mind got pretty dang dark!    


   
lenor, LalaBella, Celticwitch and 5 people reacted
ReplyQuote
(@yogagirl)
Famed Member Registered
Joined: 7 years ago
Posts: 381
 

DANG !  I just signed onto Yahoo News and DAVID KOCH is dead.  It should be interesting to see how this effects the elections.  The Koch Bros are large Repub supporters.  (I'm not trying to sound like this is good news just interesting)


   
ReplyQuote
(@vestralux)
Illustrious Member Registered
Joined: 6 years ago
Posts: 670
 

@jeanne-mayell and @laura-f, thank you. ?

 

@yogagirl, I'd wager Koch's death will have significant impact, but I'm not sure in which direction. I want to believe that his passing will create a sudden vacuum large enough to cause significant chaos among the shadowy donors and members of the Koch Network and every other affiliate. Though it's also possible this could give Drumpf and his backers a little hope. 

What's happening today with his total freakout on China over the tariff war he created, demanding ("hereby order[ing]") that US companies start pulling out all business from the country, is arguably more damaging than the litany of (truly) insane stuff he said two days ago. 

This Virgo stellium is really pricking his hackles. If he doesn't calm down, he's going to give himself a stroke. 


   
BlueBelle, Celticwitch, BlueBelle and 1 people reacted
ReplyQuote
(@deetoo)
Illustrious Member Moderator
Joined: 5 years ago
Posts: 2122
 

@vestralux, re the "chosen one" post:  I was feeling a lot of what you powerfully expressed, but was unable to articulate it.  I was beginning to drive myself crazy.  Thank you for unscrambling my muddled brain!


   
VestraLux, Jeanne Mayell, VestraLux and 1 people reacted
ReplyQuote
(@jeanne-mayell)
Illustrious Member Admin
Joined: 7 years ago
Posts: 7907
Topic starter  

David Koch, I think people know, had withdrawn from Koch Industries a few years ago when he became ill.  His older brother, Charles, I sensed was the number one driving force in the family's efforts to control the U.S. governments, federal and state, to meet their financial interests, with the younger David as number two. 

I don't think much will change because of David's death, since he'd already withdrawn.

To recap the Koch's for anyone who is unfamiliar, they claim to be libertarians, but not when it comes to their own self interest. Then they are happy to use government money to fuel (sorry about the pun) their businesses, the biggest of which is petroleum. 

It's also notable that the libertarians' original money came from government money.  What would they have done without government tax revenues?  Fred Koch, their father, processed petroleum for Stalin and then for Hitler, providing original wealth for them and helping those regimes, according to Mayer. 

David Koch had been funding various arts initiatives in recent years, like PBS scientific documentaries which I felt were designed to distract people from climate change.

If anyone wants to know more about them, there's a detailed chapter on them in the book Dark Money by Jane Mayer. The New Yorker just re-published this 2010 article, also by Jane Mayer, about their war on Obama. According to Mayer's well researched book, they operated their businesses like organized crime.

The whole idea of changes in Koch influence is worth meditating on, however, since DT came in under Russian oligarchs, not the Kochs. The Kochs have been working on turning state governments to the right in order to get Constitutional amendments. 


   
lenor, Celticwitch, VestraLux and 3 people reacted
ReplyQuote
(@suspira44)
Famed Member Registered
Joined: 5 years ago
Posts: 363
 

well, Ruth Bader Ginsburg is being treated for pancreatic cancer. Yikes. The poor woman, she is trying to hold on. He'll probably nominate Mickey Mouse, who will be confirmed immediately.


   
ReplyQuote
(@vestralux)
Illustrious Member Registered
Joined: 6 years ago
Posts: 670
 

@jeanne-mayell

I'd like to think so too, but for one essential fact, which I don't think has been given nearly enough attention in the mainstream press (virtually none at all). What's been emerging on the far right in the last several decades isn't merely a hard turn toward libertarianism-cum-capitalism. It's the volcanic-scale eruption of a neoreactionary (NRx) worldview, aka The Dark Enlightenment—which is rigidly anti-democratic and anti-egalitarian.  

In fact, by the "return of traditional values," they mean monarchy. Literally. And failing that, oligarchy will suffice. Neoreactionaries are actively for authoritarianism, and tend to favor ultranationalism, nativism, racial supremacy, and anti-immigrant policies and perspectives. A significant strain refers to itself as "masculinist"—or in common parlance: straight up misogynists. In the US, many identify themselves as white nationalists. 

NRx psychological motivations, as far as I can tell, are simple, if not at all straightforward. These individuals are almost entirely well-educated white Western men of means who believe themselves so supremely intellectually superior to everyone else—personally and historically—that nature has simply proven to the rest of us that they are the "fittest." They're the apex predator of the human race (and every other species), so they should rule us. ...It goes without saying that, almost to a one, they appear to lack developed (or even basic) human empathy, much less the higher relational capacities that can only form from it.

Neoreactionaries despise multiculturalism and pluralist societies, and believe democracy is laughably irrational, if not outright destructive, because (they believe) by allowing everyone equal representation, you don't gain freedom—you just dramatically lower the bar. The majority of people have only an average IQ, which places those people on intellectual scale with worms and other invertebrates. Only a broken society allows worms a voice in its political and economic affairs, right?

I'm obviously reducing a lot of (masturbatory and misanthropic) theory into a few paragraphs of outsider analysis, but what I think most of us need to recognize is that the neo-fascism of NRx philosophy and action isn't exclusive to the Peter Thiels and Steve Bannons and Stephen Millers and every Ivy-educated alt-right or affiliated DC think tank to pop up in the last 10 years. It's the predominant trend line on the Western political and academic right. 

And this:

What powerful kleptocratic, oligarchical prince do we currently know who is clever enough to allow his people to perform the ritual of voting, even if it's only pretend? A very wealthy prince who cut out every democratic-leaning weed (e.g. free press) in his country, and plans to rule forever because he's the fittest, most powerful, and therefore, most deserving?

I think it's too narrow to assume the only reason certain Republicans and evangelical leaders seem so hard up for Putin is because he owns them. I'm sure that's true of a goodly number, but not all allegiances require cash; some are based purely on the strength of common ideology.           


   
LalaBella, BlueBelle, LalaBella and 1 people reacted
ReplyQuote
(@jeanne-mayell)
Illustrious Member Admin
Joined: 7 years ago
Posts: 7907
Topic starter  

@vestralux. Totally agree. 

 


   
BlueBelle, VestraLux, BlueBelle and 1 people reacted
ReplyQuote
(@vestralux)
Illustrious Member Registered
Joined: 6 years ago
Posts: 670
 

I should have brought that full circle with the Kochs and their reach.

I'm not suggesting that every last legislator, or donor, or network of legislators and donors on the hard right is a stooge for authoritarian/anti-democractic principles. At least, not wittingly. But the further they've moved toward kleptocratic reign (or complicity), the further from their precious "founding fathers" they've gotten. And after decades of the Kochs and The Family, etc., the slide is lubed right up for the final descent into all out corporate fascism.

 

   


   
BlueBelle, Celticwitch, Jeanne Mayell and 3 people reacted
ReplyQuote
(@lovendures)
Illustrious Member Moderator
Joined: 6 years ago
Posts: 4460
 

I have tried to boycott Koch products for the past 3 years.   It takes work but I can successfully avoid their paper products, though I must be careful with private label since they make most of those too.  Clothing materials are more difficult.

 Here are kist some of the products they own:

  • Angel Soft
  • Angel Soft Ultra
  • Brawny paper towels
  • Dixie products
  • Insulair cups
  • Mardis Gras napkins
  • Perfect Touch cups, paper products
  • Quilted Northern
  • Sparkle paper towels
  • Vanity Fair napkins & paper towels
  • Zee Napkins
  • Georgia-Pacific Office products
  • Spectrum paper
  • Georgia-Pacific’s enMotion paper towel dispenser
  • Georgia-Pacific’s engineered lumber INVISTA Brands
  • Oil pipelin
  • DACRON
  • LYCRA
  • OXYCLEAR® Barrier Resin
  • POLYCLEAR® PET
  • POLYSHIELD® Resin
  • STAINMASTER® Carpet
  • THERMOLITE® Fabric
  •  

 


   
VestraLux, BlueBelle, Jeanne Mayell and 3 people reacted
ReplyQuote
(@jeanne-mayell)
Illustrious Member Admin
Joined: 7 years ago
Posts: 7907
Topic starter  

@ lovendures -- And while we are at it, Home Depot founder and billionaire is a big Trump financial supporter. Poor Home Depot has been trying to distance itself from Trump since people began to boycott them. But I'm now enjoying patronizing their competition. Too late, Home Depot. Perhaps we need a boycott thread so we can put our money towards companies who are working toward a better world. 


   
VestraLux, Lovendures, BlueBelle and 3 people reacted
ReplyQuote
(@jeanne-mayell)
Illustrious Member Admin
Joined: 7 years ago
Posts: 7907
Topic starter  

Okay I opened a thread for shopping for a better world. Could use people's ideas about who not to buy from and what product to avoid.   https://www.jeannemayell.com/community/u-s-politics/how-to-make-sure-your-shopping-dollars-go-for-a-better-world/


   
Lovendures, Lilinoe, Lovendures and 1 people reacted
ReplyQuote
Page 38 / 166
Share: