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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsThe line between stupid and evil
Most people know that Donald Trump is an ignorant, self-absorbed man.
He cares only about himself, his own image, and being worshiped.
His greed is boundless. No matter how much he has, he will always want more. (And as president, hes raking in every dollar he can.)
The powers of a president arent enough for him. He wants to be an emperor.
He was born to wealth and has no sympathy, or empathy for anyone else on Earth.
Hes not unique. There are many very wealthy people exactly like him.
However, the extent of Trumps ignorance is mind blowing.
He didnt know what NATO was before it was explained to him
multiple times.
He didnt know what the Geneva Conventions were before Angela Merkel explained them to him.
He hung up on the Prime Minister of Australia, one of our closest allies, that has soldiers fighting alongside our own troops in Afghanistan.
He expected all world leaders to bow down and kiss his ring.
He didnt understand that the government has three coequal branches until he ran into the barriers thrown up by congress and the courts.
He stood in front of the CIA wall of honor (stars commemorating fallen agents) and bragged about his election victory and the millions in the crowds that came to cheer him.
In short, hes one tremendously stupid, fucking man.
BUT, and this is a big but. Hes also malevolent.
He takes joy from the misfortune of others.
He loves the adoration heaped on him by know-nothings when he verbally spits on others (in and out of government).
It doesnt bother him in the least that repealing Obamacare would leave millions without medical coverage.
He doesnt give a rats ass if families who have lived in America for decades are broken up because of his hatred for immigrants
especially Mexican immigrants.
He casually signs an executive order against Planned Parenthood to satisfy his pro-life voters. And he is clueless to the varied services provided by Planned Parenthood and the needs of women who seek out those services.
He has no problem trying to keep Middle Eastern people, who have suffered in unimaginable ways, out of this country.
He takes joy in belittling people with disabilities, as we saw in that terrible video during his campaign of him making fun of a reporter.
Donald Trump goes beyond being a horrible human being. Hes malevolent.
And another word for malevolent is evil.
So, as far as Im concerned, Donald Trump has transcended the line between stupid and evil.
To put it as bluntly as possible he is one evil prick, and the world would be a better place without people like him in power.
jls4561
(1,241 posts)Warpy
(110,900 posts)Hannah Arendt's phrase "banality of evil" says it much better. It covers the bland men who carry out evil orders without question because that is what they're paid to do. It covers people with no moral or ethical compass, the ones who always go along to get along, with no empathy for people who are getting hurt in the process.
Dolt45 is an ignorant man who thinks he knows it all. He's spiteful but not particularly malicious to anyone who hasn't wounded his ego in some way. The problem is that he's surrounded by men who are malicious, like Bannon, and smart enough to realize that Dolt is only happy when he sees adoration in someone else's eyes, making him very easy to manipulate.
This isn't our mess. We didn't cause it and we can't fix it. Our job right now is to survive it with our own humanity intact.
Cyrano
(15,020 posts)how many voted for him. Many are not malicious or dolts.
They are merely fools who didn't know any better.
But what I find most disturbing, is that they are still behind him and would vote for him again. I really don't know what other term to use for them than "stupid."
Warpy
(110,900 posts)People like us who dig for facts and read rather than wait for broadcast "news" to spoon feed us sound bites and factoids are not like them. Everything they know about the world comes from broadcast "news," the pulpit, and family who are just as befogged by propaganda parading as news as they are.
If there is ever another Democratic president with a Democratic Congress, the first job needs to be re establishing the Fairness Doctrine. Propaganda needs to be answered, and for over 30 years it has not been. The presidency of Dolt45 is the result.
Guilded Lilly
(5,591 posts)Combination.
And while Comrade Cretin is oblivious to anything that doesn't shallowly stroke his own ego, Comrade Vladimir is going for much deeper stroking.
Excellent commentary, by the way, Cyrano!