Trump isn't crazy, its a negotiating technique

[grantcart]

Straight from Art of the Deal, throw up a lot of balls and don't get attached to any of them.

If things start to go sideways, throw up more balls.

Misdirection. Talk about a major investigation into voting fraud. Get everybody talking about that while you strip the EPA down to nothing.

Get everybody excited about crazy shit and when it looks that they are going to have you committed put a trillion dollar infrastructure plan that will add to the deficit and have enough fat for everyone, especially in the red states and nothing for mass transit or the cities. Since it won't appear to be insane but just bad policy the Republicans will fawn over it, the pundits will cry relief that Trump has 'turned a corner' and the Democratic Senators will sell out for pennies on the dollar.

The way to sell really bad policy is recreate the field so that it appears that the only choice is a) bad policy and b) insanely bad nuttery.

I think the guys on the crane have it right: resist. Don't give in. Especially don't give in to a bad infrastructure bill. Let them pass the Democratic proposal or nothing at all.

[marylandblue]

1. +1,000,000

And I'd add ignore all the balls, resist the policies.

[ms liberty]

2. +1. K&R. n/t

[yallerdawg]

3. I disagree - this guy is crazy as a loon.

There is no negotiating advantage in destroying your own credibility.

We just have a lot of people in the world who are going to hope and pray (and rationalize) that he is aware of what he is doing, and there is "a method to his madness."

It is a shock for it to dawn on us that there is no method. Only madness.

[grantcart]

7. Saying the President was born in Africa and all the lies about sending people

to Hawaii etc, etc, burned his credibility and he was openly laughed at WH press dinner. The fact is it has done very well for him.

There isn't going to be any investigation about vote fraud. There isn't going to be a Muslim registry. These are extreme positions that reframe the bounds of acceptability so that bad policy is now seen as not as bad as crazy.

He lays out the technique in his book Art of the Deal. Practice deliberate exaggeration, hyperbole and misdirection:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/book-party/wp/2015/06/17/how-donald-trump-plays-the-press-in-his-own-words/?utm_term=.5af0f9d5ccd0

The funny thing is that even a critical story, which may be hurtful personally, can be very valuable to your business. Television City is a perfect example. When I bought the land in 1985, many people, even those on the West Side, didn’t realize that those one hundred acres existed. Then I announced I was going to build the world’s tallest building on the site. Instantly, it became a media event: the New York Times put it on the front page, Dan Rather announced it on the evening news, and George Will wrote a column about it in Newsweek. Every architecture critic had an opinion, and so did a lot of editorial writers. Not all of them liked the idea of the world’s tallest building. But the point is that we got a lot of attention, and that alone creates value. . . .

Most reporters, I find, have very little interest in exploring the substance of a detailed proposal for a development. They look instead for the sensational angle.

. . .
The final key to the way I promote is bravado. I play to people’s fantasies. People may not always think big themselves, but they can still get very excited by those who do. That’s why a little hyperbole never hurts. People want to believe that something is the biggest and the greatest and the most spectacular.

I call it truthful hyperbole. It’s an innocent form of exaggeration — and a very effective form of promotion.

[yallerdawg]

10. You're referencing a fiction...

that he didn't write. Considering all his failures, he never read the book.

I hoped he was crazy like a fox. Now, I see he is just crazy.

[marylandblue]

14. He is crazy and there is a method too

It's classic Narcissistic Personality Disorder. It's not that he doesn't know what he is doing. It's just that he is not interested in trifles like credibility or effectiveness. He just wants to feed his own ego. That's it. Everything he says and does is about getting attention, and demonstrating that is worthy of such attention.

[Cha]

32. I agree.. he's a narcississtic, sociopathic, pathological liar

in the midst of all that other shit of his that grant says in the OP

[rock]

27. Correct

It's not a negotiating technique, he's crazy.

[brush]

35. I'm with you. trump wishes he was that smart. He also wishes he didn't have to go bankrupt...

how many times? We need a program to keep up with his bankruptcies, smart business failures, his scam university, his fail products like trump steaks and trump vodka.

I mean how do you go bankrupt running effin casinos? They're a license to print money if you know what you're doing. The odds are set up to favor the house in every game on the floor.

You gotta be pretty full of yourself thinking you're so smarts to fail at running casinos.

[Cha]

36. Trump's mentally ill says Paul Krugman this morning(yesterday)

link

[TrekLuver]

4. I'm sorry but there is a real problem with this voter fraud shit. This isn't some little

diversion in my opinion. This is a big deal...he is either lying or delusional. It's a pretty big deal that the BLOWTUS and his minions are lying to the American people...this is taking on new life because he's not some private citizen...he is the the BLOWTUS now and this is serious.

[unblock]

11. it's not his idea. it's a calculated excuse to further suppress legitimate voting.

he's neither lying nor delusional. he's a sociopath interested in amassing and preserving power and attention.

some right-wing nutjobs told him, here, promote this voter fraud story and it'll help us suppress democratic votes and help ensure your re-election.

donnie doesn't know or care one iota whether it's actually true or not.

ok, maybe one tiny iota, in that he would like to think of himself as the winner of the popular vote, but that really is a matter of trivia for him. he won, he's a winner in his mind, and now he wants to get kudos and win in 2020.

[TrekLuver]

13. But I think they can suppress plenty of votes without having to look and act off the rails.

This is a very petty and fragile man....and he has a long rich history of his petty bullshit. This insanity is nothing new.

[unblock]

15. no doubt. we're just quibbling about which part of his insanity is most relevant in this case.

i'm saying it's his sociopathy, you're saying it's his pathological lying and/or his delusion.

[TrekLuver]

17. He's all 3...And I have to laugh he said not one...NOT ONE of the 3-5 million illegal votes

went to him.

[unblock]

19. if they voted for him, it's legal by definition!

because he's president and can pardon any of them, you see!

[brush]

37. He is lying. We all know it's a lie, just as he does. He maybe trying to pull something...

over on us, but he is lying.

[eleny]

5. Are you sure you're a president?

Soitenly...
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[Glimmer of Hope]

6. I really don't think he is in touch with reality. He is embarrassing himself and I can't

imagine he would intentionally do so. He is antics are distracting though!

[LeftInTX]

8. He isn't a politician. He has never had a job that requires sustained interpersonal skills.

He doesn't know how to compromise. He is not suited for the job.
He thinks running a country is going to be like a bunch of real estate deals.

I don't think he is playing 3D chess. The job can drive people crazy if they are not suited for it.

[grantcart]

9. Its not 3D Chess. Its roller derby checkers.

[marylandblue]

12. Exactly.

And it's roller derby checkers against people playing chess. The point is not to win the chess game. The point is to knock over the board and steal all the pieces.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

21. Right. Running the country is not a business deal. A business deal is simple - you and me and

whatever we are debating about. All that said, his strategy seems to be working because we have no power and our Dems are not used to unifying with a common message (PR). Holy cow - we need a genius, kick-ass thinking, PR savvy DNC head. We also needed new minority blood in house. I love Nancy Pelosi - but we needed a kick-ass fighter there too.

[highplainsdem]

16. Tony Schwartz, who wrote The Art of the Deal, considers Trump a sociopath

Tweet from last October:

In July told New Yorker if renamed"The Art of the Deal," I would now call it "The Sociopath." Trump has proved it 50 fold over last 90 days.

The New Yorker article:

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/07/25/donald-trumps-ghostwriter-tells-all

[Cha]

33. Well there ya go.. that's what I said in my post.. and Schwartz knows

him better.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=8538587

[Laura PourMeADrink]

18. So in other words, we are fucked beyond all recognition. has anyone written a book on

how to combat the zillion balls in the air?

[stevenleser]

20. I think both, crazy and methodical. nt

[democratisphere]

22. MISDIRECTION.

Keep your eyes and ears on the absurd while he is gutting our country of the important things that matter to the masses. Don't take his rediculus bait.

[LeftInTX]

23. Yeah, the sending the Feds to Chicago was nothing but bluster

It got us all riled up. But then I realized that it's not workable. Maybe Trump thought it was workable, but after thinking about it, he realized it wasn't practical. So it will go down in the books as hyperbole.

[zagamet]

44. Chicago

You aren't hearing what he's saying if you don't think he's serious about sending the National Guard into Chicago.

He wants to argue that he's there for the inner city. He said this on the campaign trail. He said it in his Inaugural speech. The whole idea of an infrastructure bill isn't a GOP idea, it's Trump catering to his fancy that he can reach out to the inner city.

Clamp down hard on 4 city blocks, troops on every corner, and less hard on the 8 surrounding blocks in each direction to prevent bleed out.

Stop the shooting for 100 days with constant, 24/7 presence.

Natl Guard isn't the po po. They aren't going to go after other crime. The shooters need only not shoot to conduct business as usual. It's a different level of authority with a different goal.

And if he accomplishes the goal of driving shootings down to zero with a 24/7 NG presence?

He might be throwing balls in the air but this particular ball he's talked about time and time again. This is one he's gonna act on. He thinks this one is gonna make him a hero. Wait and see.

[KittyWampus]

24. Trump is irrelevant. Bannon is using this to make their base believe absurdities:

“Those who can make you believe absurdities, can make you commit atrocities.”

Voltaire

As far as I'm concerned, Voltaire's quote explains this in such a succinct way that no more discussion need be had.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

25. +1. You nailed it on all points. But he doesn't know he's in a different league than contractors. nt

[kentuck]

26. If he's not "crazy"...?

...then he sure is unstable as all hell...

[elmac]

28. what ever the tactic

Dems better fight him on everything, no matter how good it sounds.

[unblock]

29. They're not mutually exclusive

[grantcart]

38. that is also true

[hells]

30. Just watch this. It does explain it all.

[pnwmom]

31. And he's not stupid. He's an evil genius at what he does.

Appealing to some people through fear and hate; others through ego.

[brush]

39. Nah! He's evil all right, but far from being genius. How many times has gone bankrupt?

How much money did his father start him off with? How many times after that did his father have to bail him out?

How many times did he short his contractors to make a profit?

How many students of trump University did he scam and steal money from?

Ryan and Bannon and ALEC are crafting these executive orders and putting them in front of him to sign.

NOT A GENIUS, a misogynistic, racist, p_ssy grabbing, cheating bully is what he is.

We saw it all unfold during the campaign. Comey and Puting and Assange and Crosscheck are the only reason he's in the White House.

[pnwmom]

40. I didn't say he's a business genius. He's a genius at manipulating people,

at using his dark emotional intelligence, and that's why he got close enough to the Presidency that Comey and Russia could give him the final nudge into office.

[brush]

42. We all have opinions. Mine is he's not a genius. He is evil though.

[watoos]

34. Oh Trump is insane, and we should keep repeating this.

He got his start in politics by having people listen to people's gripes who called into Rush, Savage, InfoWars, and he ran on those gripes.
These far right loons are advising him and part of Trump's mental illness is that he believes the last person to talk to him.
The people at Breitbart and Infowars are directing him.
There is another person not talked about much who appears on InfoWars every so often, Steve Pczezernak. This guy makes conspiracy theorists quiver. He is a believer that Sandy Hook was staged by child actors. He has convinced Trump that he must rescue America from the dark state that is embedded in our government.
Add to all of this that Republicans just changed the people who run Voice of America, it used to be run by a non-political committee, but Republicans changed the rules in this past military budget. Now VOA is controlled by a CEO who is appointed by Trump. Let's also remember that VOA now airs in the United States. Today, 2 right wing, far right alt right bloggers walked into the VOA studio to begin spreading Trump's alternate facts. VOA has become the Ministry of Truth. God help us. All paid for with millions of taxpayer dollars.

[pnwmom]

41. We'd be better off if he had a mental illness

because there are some medical treatments for that.

But he doesn't have a mental disease, he has the personality disorder of pathological narcissism. That means his personality developed in a way that is warped -- and nothing can fix that.

[Cracklin Charlie]

43. Rule #1

Never trust Republicans.

Ever. Any of them.

[Tatiana]

45. He's a very successful salesman.

He finds out what a certain group of people want and like (his base) and then he offers it up to them, no matter how horrid it may come across.

He lacks intellect and academic knowledge, but he has a knack for reading people and their mood. Like his defunct university, his "empire" is a fraud, but he knows what to say to continue to get people to loan him more money to feed his lifestyle. In a way, the man is selfishly brilliant. He's played everyone.

But I do believe he's also mentally ill and will not be able to actually govern for long.