David Corn: The Self-Destruction of Donald J. Trump

[babylonsister]

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2020/08/the-self-destruction-of-donald-j-trump/

August 4, 2020
The Self-Destruction of Donald J. Trump
Thousands of Americans are dying because Trump can’t even help himself.
David Corn
Washington, DC, Bureau ChiefBio | Follow

snip//

The responsible course for the president was not tough to discern. Follow the recommendations of public health experts. Model the appropriate conduct. (Wear a mask!) Assist front-line medical workers. Seek to help the economically dislocated. Mourn the dead and address the national fear and anxiety. Yet Trump’s own inner compass is so broken that he could not even fake concern for his own political benefit. His deep-rooted pathologies—I know best, I can bullshit through anything—blocked him from adopting simple measures that would actually advance his own personal agenda.

snip//

Trump cannot stop himself from lying. (Last month, the Washington Post‘s database of Trump’s false statements hit the 20,000 mark.) Trump cannot stop himself from self-aggrandizing. (Trump at the Centers for Disease Control in March: “Every one of these doctors said, ‘How do you know so much about this?’ Maybe I have a natural ability.”) Trump cannot throttle back on his racism (“the China virus”), his ignorance (“supposing you brought the light inside the body”), or his egotism (“we had a lot of people watching, record numbers watching…in the history of cable television, there’s never been anything like it”). But the former reality TV celebrity, who became famous by exploiting the tabloid press, does know a thing or two about PR. So is it that difficult for him to comprehend that this continuing march of death threatens the only thing he cares about: his own standing? Grasping this simple notion should compel him to take immediate and extensive action to limit the number of lives lost to this killer virus—not for the good of others, but for his own sake.

Yet Trump’s demons are in control. He is fueled by spite and by self-glory. Moreover, he appears incapable of peering into the future and considering the effects of his statements and actions. Last month, Trump publicly vowed that he would sign and enact a comprehensive health care plan within two weeks. The fortnight came and went; there was nothing. This was yet one more sign that Trump is 100-percent situational. He says whatever he thinks he needs to say at the moment to gain whatever advantage he seeks, without an iota of regard for later being held accountable. It sure sounds swell to promise everyone a signed, sealed, and delivered health care package within 14 days. Why not say that? So what if there is no new national health care program in two weeks? Trump will deal with that then. Or not. It doesn’t matter to him. Neither present truth nor future consequences hold much reality for him.

Perhaps this explains Trump’s inability to fully fathom the threat he faces. The appalling body count of the present doesn’t move him toward empathy or effective policy, and the prospect of hideous headlines to come also doesn’t motivate him. Not even when his own political career is in jeopardy. Maybe he figures that he will BS his way through all this or rig the system somehow to retain power. Or that he will just get dumb-lucky via an external incident (a vaccine!) that changes the now-dark landscape. But Trump’s inability to make a simple calculation—I should heed the experts and implement the counter-pandemic fundamentals to save lives and (also!) win reelection—is stark and disturbing. It shows Trump cannot perceive or escape the vortex of his own self-destruction. The immense tragedy is that thousands of Americans have died and will continue to die because Trump cannot help even himself.

[lindysalsagal]

1. Bsis: thanks. As always, for finding this.

you always get the important part of the important story!

[leftieNanner]

2. David Corn is such a good writer!

I used the link you provided and read the entire article. It's astounding to me that Trump cannot understand that the best way for him to achieve his goal (reelection) is to do the right thing. But he is incapable.



Thanks for sharing this babylonsister.

[Grins]

3. Disagree

His “Self-Destruction“ had, and still does , plenty of help and enablers.

[brush]

10. I agree with you. I also used to think trump's megalomaniacal...

narcissism and lack of empathy was what tripped him up in his inept handling of the pandemic. But since the report came out last week that he had tasked the ever-failing Kushner with putting together a national testing and tracing program, I've changed my mind.

Oh, I'm not saying at all the sociopathic, lying trump is not the most prime example ever of the Dunning-Kruger effect, it's just that once Kushner realized early on that the virus was affecting blue states much more severely than red states, he alerted trump and they both decided to drop the fledgling testing/tracing program because it benefited them politically not to pursue it. That's not just sociopathic, unfeeling and political, that's out right criminal.

They made the decision to let Americans in blue states catch the virus and possibly die. So even though trump is an inept, bumbling, ignorant fool, those are not the reasons we still don't have a national testing/tracing program.

trump always shoots himself in the foot and fails so it's par for the course. With him in charge the pandemic was destined to rage out of control because he is who he is, a not very sharp criminal always looking for personal advantage.

[smirkymonkey]

4. K&R

[Laelth]

5. Just so.

This is an excellent description of the typical behavior of a person with a Cluster B personality disorder.

-Laelth

[gratuitous]

6. "He says whatever he thinks he needs to say at the moment"

"Without an iota of regard for later being held accountable."

And who would hold Trump accountable for the empty promise of a comprehensive health care plan? Certainly the media continue with the gosh-darnedest case of collective lockjaw anyone's ever seen. Trump stated unequivocally that he'd have that long-awaited health plan this week. Who's asking him about it? Anyone? Trump's just given up on doing his job, and the folks who could ask him about that and hold his cloven feet to the fire don't seem interested, either.

[Martin Eden]

11. Good point

When the President of the United States makes a declarative statement about a major piece of legislation like a comprehensive health care bill --- and cites a timeline for delivery -- it's inexcusable for the media to just let it drop when that legislation fails to materialize.

[Hortensis]

7. I believe he's been told he can be President for Life and has

his narcissistic brain focused on that, while McConnell and his cabal also have their focus on becoming unstoppable.

Looking at all the Republicans are doing, including their timely attacks on the postal service, it now seems probable that this providential virus (God IS on their side!) was allowed to run loose across America specifically to sow chaos and enable other subversive actions like this to steal the elections.

People are supposed to die, and how nice is it that most are old and/or sick anyway? Of course, as leakers have revealed, it was thought Covid would ravage blue cities far more, leaving red states and rural areas and their voters mostly okay, but as Trump says, "It is what it is." Peripheral damage that simply doesn't matter, and still wouldn't if he were capable of caring.

[Raastan]

8. K + R

[CatWoman]

9. K; R

[DenverJared]

12. The idiot could have made himself unbeatable very easily

just by being competent and handling the pandemic efficiently, caring about people and showing hard work.

Any incumbent POTUS running for reelection would kill to have a chance like this.

But ... one can never ever fix stupid.

[abqtommy]

13. This thought about tRUMP just came to mind: There but for the grace of God go I*...

* 'There is a 19th-century tradition tracing to Bradford the idiomatic "There but for the grace of God go I" as an expression of humility and reliance on God's grace rather than his own morality. The editor of The Writings of John Bradford, Aubrey Townsend, notes this in his preface'...

more at link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Bradford#Phrase_attribution

[Demovictory9]

14. yep