Trump Today
Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.....
William Butler Yeats; The Second Coming; 1919.
Like many people, I keep up on the “news” by watching various television sources, and reading newspapers, books, and things on the internet. These often provide a wide range of opinions, or interpretations of the news. I've never sought to limit myself to exposure to opinions that I agree with.
There are numerous topics other than news about current events that I explore through television, books, and the internet. The evolution of life on Earth, archaeology, anthropology, the environment, sociology, psychology, and U.S. political history are all fascinating fields of study. Being retired allows me the opportunity to go at my own pace, satisfied in recognizing that I can only cover a tiny fraction of what is known about such topics. “It's a small world, but you can't eat in every restaurant,” a high school girlfriend once told me.
Like all human beings, I am a product of genetics and environment. (In fact, all organic life on and of Earth is. Genetics and environment are like the yellow and blue that combine to create green life.) So my limited understanding of life around me – and thus, my opinions about issues such as the current administration – are going to naturally different than other people's. And that's a good thing, because if we were all the same, humankind would soon degenerate.
We are currently spectators of the process of a type of degeneration taking place within the White House. Considering that the current administration was largely populated by corrupt figures to begin with, this is hardly surprising. And the decay brings to mind the old saying that a fish rots from the head down – for Donald Trump is a degenerate.
“It takes a lot of degeneration before a country falls into dictatorship, but we should avoid these ends by avoiding these beginnings,” Sandra O'Connor Day noted in March of 2006. A curious comment from one who selected Bush-Cheney in 2000, but true, nevertheless.
The list of people shed by the administration in thirteen month's time continues to grow. The combined slimy group has been hung out to dry, like a snake skin that still bears the stench of Trump. We have yet to see a single person leave due to conscience ….for this White House lacks conscience.
The presidency creates something of a bubble for every person in that position, even in the best case scenarios. As everyone knows, Trump has become more isolated – both physically and emotionally – within the White House over the past few days. Hence, his outburst about tariffs. I heard on critic on television say that since Trump has damaged everything domestically, he is now targeting foreign affairs. I think most of the world's people are convinced that he has damaged international relations since he was a candidate.
Trump's personality make-up – his character, resulting from genetics and environment – does not due well in isolation. This is particularly true when he is under pressure. Indeed, any one thing (for example, being made fun of on SNL) will fester in his mind, until he lashes out. This obvious lack of impulse-control is because his outbursts come not from his brain's frontal lobes, but rather, from the reptilian stem of the brain. Trump in isolation rapidly becomes a lizard, attacking imaginary flies.
When the perceived insults add up, they create a synergy. Thus, the president who boasts of being a “counter-puncher” becomes enraged when Jeff Sessions counter-punches him, by dining with the president's “enemies.” And no enemy poses as much of a threat of Robert Mueller. Reports indicate that Trump is willing to shed Ivanka and Jared from his White House, sacrificing them in a feeble effort to protect himself. (Reptiles are not noted for their parenting.) This intensifies the isolation.
The danger is obvious. Everyone on this forum already recognizes this. Trump will surely seek to increase both domestic and international tensions – in an effort to protect himself from the inevitable. His brain-dead followers are likely to crawl out from under their rocks, and react from their own reptilian impulses. These are the ones Trump has called “good people.” Petty dictators – and Trump is by definition petty – try to use such unrest to clamp down on their opposition with “emergency actions.”
To counter this possibility, it is vital that we focus upon the methods described in the Bill of Rights' Amendment 1, and in preparing for the 2018 elections. There is a great battle at hand. Let's kick their asses.
Peace, H2O Man
= new reply since forum marked as read
Maybe it’s just my tinfoil hat, but I half expect him to use any “blue wave” in the upcoming midterms as “proof” of Russian interference, and declare them all null and void.
Who would stop him? The Republican Congress? The Supreme Court (with their many army divisions behind them)?
Even though the “True Believers” that probably are only 30% (at most), it would get ugly.
Maybe I should just check my meds....
my good WaterMan 
Most of us raised in the gentle country simply can't perceive people like tRump existing, much less elected to public office. Therefore, people like us study to try and understand "what the hell is this THING?".
We all know he exhibits symptoms of psychopathy, but his ego goes far beyond that characteristic. I found this article in Raw Story (originally from AlterNet) quite interesting:
The psychological condition that really explains Donald Trump’s twisted worldview
AlterNet
03 Mar 2018 at 14:24 ET
See: https://www.rawstory.com/2018/03/psychological-condition-really-explains-donald-trumps-twisted-worldview/
It's all about "wins" and he can't stand to lose or "not win", as proven by his actions. He does not seem to care if an action is or is not the right thing to do, but if it's popular with his base and/or creates new chaos, then it's a win on his brain's scoreboard.
H2O, as an amateur psychologist in retirement (from engineering), I enjoy studying human behavior in an effort to better accept my fellow man and all our strange behavior and foibles around the globe. This study began as an important part of my alcohol recovery program beginning in 1990 (for self-knowledge), and I've used those same tools to help me understand and accept others. It provided invaluable relief during the wars Iraq and Afghanistan in an effort to understand those cultures.
I learned that if I don't have at least a modest understanding of behavior strange to me, then that invites fear and resentment. Picking up bits and pieces of understanding from folks like you is like gold. One of my longest lasting endeavors is trying to understand the mindset of the typical Republican, and I'm still working on it.
It helps to occasionally remind myself that all those born into humanity are essentially normal, and those we declare to be odd are simply a ways off the Bell Curve center. Redheads, psychopaths, left-handers (like me), light and dark, short and tall are all normal parts of our wonderfully diverse species! Unfortunately, some of our least desirable attributes tend to be the most deceptive and destructive, as in the case of tRump and his associates. Each time he announced a cabinet appointment, my jaw dropped in amazement in that possible no worse person could have been chosen!
I appreciate your book recommendations and gracious thoughts. I'm very anxious to get a copy of Dr. Fromm's "The Anatomy of Human Destructiveness", as I think it will shed some more professional light on my amateur musings about mankind.
LOL, one Amazon reviewer said "This book helps me to understand Mike Pence.".
I've worked with a big variety of folks in my recovery program, including people of all faiths (and none), ones with sexual issues, bi-polar folks and a few that probably were just outright psychopaths. Those experiences taught me a lot about the extremes in our species and how to accept and deal with those variances. I'm forever grateful for that experience.
I assume you're speaking of Rubin Carter the boxer (I looked him up), and if so, I'm sure he was quite a character to have met and studied. He's from the school of hard knocks, for sure - and I don't mean from boxing.
Peace!.......