Trump is as Batshit-Crazy as You Think: Andrew Sullivan
Writing in New York magazine, he says:
The president believes what he wants to believe, creates a reality that fits his delusions, and then insists, with extraordinary energy and stamina, that his delusions are the truth. His psychological illness, moreover, is capable of outlasting anyone elses mental health. Objective reality that contradicts his delusions is discounted as fake news propagated by our countrys greatest enemy, i.e., reporters. If someone behaved like this in my actual life, if someone kept insisting that the sea was red and the sky green, Id assume they were a few sandwiches short of a picnic. Its vital for us to remember this every day: Almost no one else in public life is so openly living in his own disturbed world.
This past week was a kind of masterpiece in delusion. It was a long version of that surreal video his National Security Council created for Kim Jong-un. It was crude, crass, and absurd. I cant begin to unpack the madness, but its worth counting the bizarre things Trump said and did in such a short space of time. Trump clearly believes that Canadas milk exports are a verifiable national security threat to the United States. He thinks Justin Trudeaus banal press conference, reiterating Canadas position on trade, was a stab in the back. And he insists that the nuclear threat from North Korea is now over Sleep well! because he gave Kim the kind of legitimacy the North Korean national gulag has always craved, and received in turn around 400 words from Pyongyang, indistinguishable from previous statements made to several presidents before him. For good measure, he took what was, according to The Wall Street Journal, Vladimir Putins advice I kid you not to cancel the forthcoming joint military exercises with the South Koreans. More than that, he has offered to withdraw all U.S. troops from the peninsula at some point, before Pyongyang has agreed to anything. He regards all of this as worthy of a Nobel Peace Prize, his Reagan moment. And he is constructing a reality-television show in which he is a World Historical Figure.
This, in fact, is the poignant and quite bonkers script in Trumps head: that the economy was in free-fall until he took office, after which it soared; that he alone has brought black and Hispanic unemployment down; that his administration has accomplished more than any other at this point in its term; that the Democrats colluded with the Kremlin to try to rig the election; that Robert Mueller is a closet Democrat; that climate change is a hoax; that the American-created international trading system was designed to hurt the U.S.; that you can borrow over a trillion dollars in a full employment economy with no consequences in inflation or debt; and that sabotaging the ACA will lead to lower premiums, greater choice, and better health outcomes for all. Each one of these assertions is what he wants to be true. And so they are true. As the chairwoman of the GOP just explained to any skeptics left in the formerly conservative party: Anyone that does not embrace the Donald Trump agenda of making America great again will be making a mistake.
http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2018/06/trump-is-making-us-all-live-in-his-delusional-reality-show.html
A bit longer than your standard opinion piece, but definitely worth it.
ThoughtCriminal
(14,046 posts)The things that go on in Trump's head are not a secret. When he talks, we get to hear all the insane ramblings and the insanity is blindingly obvious.
The weird part is living in a country where the ruling party pretends not to notice, enables, and does not care.
. . . which is maybe the biggest reason why this continuing string of Trump scandals and betrayals (in addition to the jaw-dropping actions themselves) is way more dangerous than Watergate.
Response to ThoughtCriminal (Reply #1)
No-Bozos This message was self-deleted by its author.
Bernardo de La Paz
(48,965 posts)ck4829
(35,039 posts)Texin
(2,590 posts)zentrum
(9,865 posts)He's a con man and knows how to work a narrative.
His followers know some of the stuff is a lie but love him for it because they feel it's a way to give a finger to all of usThe Dems, the elite, the people who support diversity, LGBT rights. They love him for that middle finger. That's why they cheer him for every line.
SammyWinstonJack
(44,129 posts)No-Bozos
(51 posts)Cadet Bone Spurs is dangerous, very dangerous, and the fact that nearly half the country fell for his scam is distressing to me beyond belief. But, what really distresses and angers me are his enablers. Nearly all of his cabinet, staff, and especially the GOP congress know, and speak behind his back, that he is delusional, erratic, self centered (putting it mildly), and that he is a danger to us and the free world. Yet, they kowtow to him.
Many professionals believe he is in the early stages of dementia and this should be clear to anyone who hears him speak. We've been here before with Reagan. Cheese puffs was damaged goods from birth and now we have the same person with more and more brain cells getting clogged each day armed with nuclear weapons.
All this aside, I really believe the immediate problem is that he has been compromised by the Russians. Anyone doubt that the Pee tape might actually exist? I'm sure Putin has even more damaging stuff locked away.
This really sucks. But, you want to see the shit hit the fan? Watch out when one of his kids gets indicted.
Honeycombe8
(37,648 posts)No...he looks too happy when in Putin's presence or even mentioning his name. I think he is focused on doing business in Russia with a determination of a dog to get a squirrel. It's what he's been after for 30 years. A hotel in Russia. Something in Russia. He wants it desperately...his crowning business achievement. It can't be overemphasized how much he wants that. His org. has been doing business Russia and its oligarch for many years. He sells condos and houses and real estate to them. They lend him money. They each create fake corporations to pass money through to each other.
That's the carrot that Putin is dangling. It doesn't seem like blackmail to me. Watch videos and pics of the two of them together. They act like bffs. Not the sort of behavior that someone like Trump would do, when face to face with someone who is trying to wield power over him. To win, and for Trump to lose.
He's giddy as a schoolboy, when he's with Putin. A "real" leader who likes him and who will open the door to the riches he has longed for for so many years.
No-Bozos
(51 posts)But lets not forget Putin was KGB before his present gig and the Russians have long history of compromising their enemies. They've had years to turn the process into an art form. Discretion is not one of Trump's strong points.
Yes, Trump sees $$$$$ in Russia. Putin sees a wide open opportunity to weaken western democracies and alliances. Hey, guess what, its working. Having Putin dangle $$$$ in one hand, and real dirt in the other, makes Trump Putin's bitch.
Personally, I don't think Trump will have long to enjoy any benefits he might get from Russia. Many psychiatrists have seen ample evidence of mental decline. He's 72, overweight augmented by fast food, and swinging a golf club is not exercise. Couple all this with his tantrums and Mueller writing up indictments, he's a stroke waiting to happen. I'd also be very curious to know what meds Bozo is on. There are many candidates that could exacerbate an already deteriorating mind.
:
Mark Twain had it right, 'Out of all the things I have lost, I miss my mind the most.'
louis-t
(23,273 posts)muttering like Elvis when he wanted one of the Memphis Mafia to kill Priscilla's new boyfriend.
Honeycombe8
(37,648 posts)Paladin
(28,243 posts)Speaker to the Yanks
(26 posts)By Andrew Sullivan
http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2018/06/to-end-the-border-crisis-for-good-give-trump-his-wall.html
I should think 'No Sight' a more apt label for this bloke!
Beacool
(30,247 posts)Schwartz, the real author of "The Art of the Deal", shadowed Trump for 18 months to gather the information he needed. He gave an interview to The New Yorker after Trump won the nomination because he was so concerned about a potential Trump presidency. He said that Trump was a pathological liar who created his own reality, no matter the facts. He also called him a black hole in constant need of attention and a sociopath.
All things that turned out to be true.
calimary
(81,126 posts)Used to be pro-GOP. But bush/cheney fixed that.
Mazeltov Cocktail
(569 posts)Aren't you still carrying water for W... thanks for yet another essay that repeats what has been said many times before and much better. ..just go away and write nursery rhymes or something.
Mc Mike
(9,111 posts)The good thing about that, is that's how the original Hitler fucked up his 1000 year reich.
Same will happen to Shitler.
Volaris
(10,269 posts)Not brought under the sword of blind lady justice.
Not publicly shamed into a differing position or outlook.
Not merely defeated in the 'next cycle'.
Voted into EXTINCTION.
The Confederacy should have been PUNISHED for their Treason. The robber barons should have imprisoned. Nixon should have been forced to stand trial, as well as Reagan. Bush should have been impeached and turned over to the Hague, and the Wall Street banks should have been bought whole cloth by the TREASURY for a thin nickel on the Dollar, and then shut the fuck down.
Trump should die in prison, and take his cult of racists with him when he goes.
Voted into EXTINCTION. These are words from one of America's most highly articulate self-described CONSERVATIVES. Think about that.
EXTINCTION.
Will it happen? I know I'll do my part, and I know you will as well. Will elected liberals FINALLY have what it takes to do what is necessary to put that vote to good use?
Ever since Ford pardoned Nixon, Ive believed we were on a descent down a slippery slope toward an ignominious end. And here we are.
Orsino
(37,428 posts)Does Sully think Trump is somehow above simply lying, repeating bullshit until more people believe it?
Has Sully not figured out that Trump is being blackmailed by Putin into destroying our strengths and standing?
Sully is slow on the uptake.
JohnnyRingo
(18,619 posts)K&R for the entire piece.
paulkienitz
(1,296 posts)Trump has, in candid moments, demonstrated that he is entirely conscious of the fact that he is lying.
Blue_Tires
(55,445 posts)ck4829
(35,039 posts)dalton99a
(81,406 posts)Right now it's all about diversion and projection